Happy Valentine’s Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Let’s make this V-day one for the Vaquita!

Valentine's Day Vaquita

If you missed it when it was live, please watch Dr. Anna Hall’s Vaquita lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLqkbkJ_fJs.

It is definitely a must-watch with some wonderful information and insight from a world-renowned porpoise expert.

Some ways you can help the Vaquita on V-day are buying my Vaquita book, writing a letter to the Mexican government showing your appreciation for their actions, donating to CEDO or VIVA Vaquita, sharing a Vaquita post on social media, or making a sustainable seafood dish. It all makes a difference.

With love from the Vaquita.

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Vaquita gift ideas

With the holidays right around the corner, now’s the time to start buying gifts for your loved ones. Money is tight these days, so gifts where some the proceeds go to a good cause is a great deal. Luckily for you, there are many such gifts that are related to the Vaquita! Let’s take a look.

The CEDO Eco Shop is a wonderful place to buy awesome gifts for the holiday season. From Vaquita t-shirts to booklets, to even a special link to Amazon that gives a portion of any purchase to CEDO, they have it all.

CEDO works extensively with the Vaquita, so it is one of the best charities to donate to.

Another wonderful holiday gift for that special someone would be CEDO wine, complete with one of six creatures of the Gulf on the label (of course including the Vaquita). And a portion of the proceeds goes to CEDO!

http://www.benefitwines.com/CEDO-Intercultural_c_1826.html

The VIVA Vaquita La Tienda has some wonderful Vaquita-specific items, with a new collection by Memuco: http://www.printfection.com/vivavaquita/NEW–memuco-vaquita-items/_s_583346

A perfect gift is the Adopt-a-Vaquita kit from Save the Whales. For $25 you get:

  • An 8 x 10 glossy color photograph of a Vaquita in the wild
  • Adopt-a-Vaquita certificate personalized to your specifications
  • 4 page color newsletter about Vaquita
  • A letter to the United Nations for your signature
  • Save The Whales window sticker
  • VIVA Vaquita window sticker
  • A Vaquita dog tag necklace (suitable for all ages and both sexes)

With the second edition of the world’s only Vaquita book coming in the near future, you might want to keep it in mind: https://www.createspace.com/4268018

And my final suggestion is a Save the Vaquita! t-shirt from the Muskwa Club’s campaign, with 100% of the proceeds going to this non-profit. Remember, if 34 t-shirts are not bought, none will not be printed. So please, support a great cause and look stylish while you do it: https://www.booster.com/savethevaquita97

CEDO Eco Shop

I just received an awesome package from the CEDO Eco Shop, the gift store of the Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans. They have so many amazing items, including a Vaquita section where the profits go to our favorite little cetacean. I bought my sister some nice Vaquita earrings (the only available ones in the world to my understanding) created by local women who live in Puerto Peñasco, one of the 3 towns surrounding the Vaquita’s range. They were only $10, but you can purchase different types at various prices.

Earrings

Another great Vaquita item I bought was the CEDO publication “The Vaquita of the Gulf of California.” The 28-page magazine-style book from 2002 is very interesting and absolutely worth its bargain price of $5. Please consider purchasing some of the incredible items in this gift shop!

The Vaquita of the Gulf of California

Interior

An amazing feature I found in the Eco Shop was their Amazon “portal,” which is a link to the same Amazon page we all know and love, except on this one, when you purchase anything, a portion of the profits goes to CEDO! So if you want to donate to CEDO and the Vaquita, but also really want that pair of shoes you saw on Amazon a few days ago, click the link below and shop away with a lot less guilt. 😉

You can also buy my Vaquita book with that link, and in doing so, donate to at least 3 Vaquita charities at once! You can also buy it here: https://www.createspace.com/4268018. In addition, please read this extremely nice article from the website “Greening the Beige” about my book: http://greeningthebeige.org/gtb/node/1863.

Hey, I almost forgot to ask! How did you find this blog? Was it from a Google search? A link on another website? Or something else? Please submit your answer in the poll in the sidebar, to help me learn how to maximize this blog’s viewing. Thanks from the Vaquita!

Tribute

I want to give a huge tribute to the amazing Mexican artist Memuco. His beautiful work has raised much awareness and money for the Vaquita over the last few years. His art is absolutely amazing. Please look him up or search him on this blog to see some of the things he has done. He has also been very kind to me, even volunteering to illustrate part of my chapter book!

I would also like to thank the awesome people at ¡Viva Vaquita!, Cetos, Save the Whales!, CEDO, the American Cetacean Society Monterey Bay Chapter, WWF, earthOCEAN, NOAA, and many more that I forgot the names of for working so hard to protect this amazing creature and for answering all of my questions.

I would finally like to thank Dr. Tom Jefferson for replying to every email I have sent him since I was ten. I remember when I used to send him about 5 emails a day. I have no idea how he stayed so patient with me. 🙂 He has always been my #1 resource on Vaquita info.

All of these people and organizations have played a huge part in inspiring me to do this blog and all of the other stuff that I’ve done over the last 3 years. I feel like I know all of these people so personally, yet I have never met any one of them. One day I hope to meet you awesome humans.

Facebook

I strongly recommend liking ¡Viva Vaquita! on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/vivavaquita. They have great posts, links, and contests. If you already liked them, then you probably know about the music video for Garage Rockstars Guadalajara’s song “Desapareciendo,” dedicated to the Vaquita: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF1ItEQ_6TE.

Also, if you plan on going to Mexico (particularly around the Vaquita’s range), think about visiting these businesses that are owned/started by fishermen who changed livelihoods to help the Vaquita: http://www.cedointercultural.org/images/stories/list_of_the_pace_vaquita-reserve_support_projects.pdf.

CEDO 2012

In recognition of the extremely critical situation of the Vaquita, CEDO is directing most of its 2012 fundraising efforts to the protection of this critically endangered species. Any purchases in the coming year will support local fishermen’s and CEDO’s cooperative efforts at reducing by-catch in the Northern Gulf, in strengthening public and social policies and practices to protect the Vaquita’s habitat, and in educating the public on this little porpoise. New research on the Vaquita will be published onto CEDO’s website soon: http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Happy-Holidays-from-CEDO.html?soid=1103804400006&aid=0kt8vw91kEA