---
title: "What the sources say about the Vaquita | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "41 claims from the Vaquita profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/vaquita-1.webp"
canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/vaquita/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Vaquita (*Phocoena sinus*)

> 41 claims from the Vaquita profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Vaquita](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/vaquita/)

## Vaquita. NOAA Fisheries.

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/vaquita

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A shy porpoise | The vaquita is a shy member of the porpoise family |
| with the smallest range of any whale, dolphin or porpoise | Vaquitas have the smallest range of any whale, dolphin, or porpoise. |
| The northern Gulf of California, Mexico, mostly east of San Felipe | It only lives in the northern part of the Gulf of California in Mexico. Most vaquitas live east of the town of San Felipe, Baja California |
| Small fish, crustaceans and cephalopods | Vaquitas feed on small fish, crustaceans (such as shrimp), and cephalopods (such as squid and octopuses). |
| lives in one small corner of the ocean | The vaquita has the smallest geographical range of any marine mammal. |
| NOAA says it has the smallest range of any whale, dolphin or porpoise: only the northern part of the Gulf of California in Mexico | Vaquitas have the smallest range of any whale, dolphin, or porpoise. They only live in the northern part of the Gulf of California. |
| Most vaquitas live east of the town of San Felipe, in a 1,519-square-mile area | Most vaquitas live east of the town of San Felipe, Baja California, within a 1,519-square-mile area |
| An adult weighs 65 to 120 pounds | Weight 65 to 120 pounds |
| is 4 to 5 feet long | Length 4 to 5 feet |
| one of the smallest members of the dolphin, whale and porpoise family | is one of the smallest members of the dolphin, whale, and porpoise family |
| black patches around its eyes and lips, a rounded head with no beak, and small spade-shaped teeth | Vaquitas have small, strong bodies with a rounded head and no beak. They have black patches around their eyes and lips and small, spade-shaped teeth. |
| Its triangular dorsal fin is taller and wider than other porpoises have, and NOAA says that fin might help it lose heat in warm water | Vaquitas also have triangle-shaped dorsal fins in the middle of their backs, which are taller and wider than in other porpoises. These fins might allow vaquitas to reduce their body temperatures in warm water. |
| Vaquitas are often alone or in pairs and usually avoid boats with active engines | Vaquitas are often found alone or in pairs. These shy animals usually avoid boats with active engines. |
| Their small size and slow, inconspicuous surface rolls make them hard to observe | They are difficult to observe because of their small size, inconspicuous and slow surface rolls, small group size, and avoidance of motorized vessels. |
| They eat small fish, crustaceans such as shrimp, and cephalopods such as squid and octopuses | Vaquitas feed on small fish, crustaceans (such as shrimp), and cephalopods (such as squid and octopuses). |
| A vaquita can live for at least 21 years | Vaquitas can live for at least 21 years. |
| the sound pulses they use to find their food | the echolocation clicks that vaquitas use to find their food |
| Vaquitas can drown when they become entangled in gillnets | vaquitas can also become accidentally wrapped in the nets and drown |
| From 1997 to 2008, legal fishing, largely for shrimp, cut their numbers from around 600 to about 200 | From 1997, the year of the first complete survey, to 2008, vaquitas declined from around 600 to about 200 individuals as a result of legal fishing. The fishing was largely for shrimp |
| from around 2011, illegal fishing for totoaba, a large fish prized for its swim bladder, drove a decline of close to 50 percent of the population per year | The increased incidence of illegal fishing for a large fish called totoaba around 2011 caused a catastrophic decline of vaquita close to 50 percent of the population per year. |
| a large fish prized for its swim bladder | Fishermen illegally catch totoaba for its swim bladder |
| Mexico announced a two-year emergency gillnet ban in 2015 | In April 2015, President Peña Nieto traveled to San Felipe, one of the main fishing towns off the Gulf of California, to announce a 2-year emergency gillnet ban throughout vaquita habitat. |
| in July 2017 a federal agreement permanently banned all gillnets except those for two fish species, but NOAA notes the illegal use continues | In July 2017, a federal agreement permanently banned all gillnets except those used for fishing two species: curvina and sierra. But the illegal use of gillnets continues. |
| A vaquita that gets wrapped in a gillnet can drown | vaquitas can also become accidentally wrapped in the nets and drown |
| NOAA says the nets set illegally for totoaba, a big fish whose swim bladder sells for high prices, are the deadliest for them. | Because totoaba and vaquita are similar in size, gillnets illegally set for totoaba are the deadliest for vaquitas. |
| whose swim bladder sells for high prices | Fishermen illegally catch totoaba for its swim bladder (an air-filled sac in the totoaba’s body that helps it float), which they sell to China at high prices. |
| A newborn is about 2.5 feet long and weighs about 16 pounds. | a single calf that is about 2.5 feet long and 16 pounds |
| NOAA says females are thought to have a single calf every other year, after a pregnancy of about 10 to 11 months. | Pregnancy lasts about 10 to 11 months, and females are thought to give birth every other year to a single calf |
| Vaquitas are difficult to observe | They are difficult to observe because of their small size |
| weightKg: 42 | Weight 65 to 120 pounds (note: task #1114: the middle of NOAA's range (29 to 54 kg), Medium throughout, where the name guess gave Light. Not in a curated matchup) |

## Rojas-Bracho, Taylor & Jaramillo-Legorreta (2022). Phocoena sinus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T17028A214541137.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2022-1.rlts.t17028a214541137.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The IUCN assessed the vaquita as Critically Endangered in 2022 | IUCN Red List category: Critically Endangered (CR). (note: assessment year 2022 is in the DOI/title (2022-1); GBIF copy gives category) |
| Critically Endangered | IUCN Red List category: Critically Endangered (CR). (note: stats.conservationStatus) |

## Jaramillo-Legorreta et al. (2019). Decline towards extinction of Mexico's vaquita porpoise ( Phocoena sinus ). Royal Society Open Science.

https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.190598

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Nearly continuous echolocation clicks that acoustic detectors can pick up | they are readily detectable using acoustics because they produce a nearly continuous series of echolocation clicks |
| Vaquitas are readily detectable by sound because they produce a nearly continuous series of echolocation clicks | they are readily detectable using acoustics because they produce a nearly continuous series of echolocation clicks |
| A 2019 study estimated fewer than 19 vaquitas remained as of summer 2018 | We estimate fewer than 19 vaquitas remained as of summer 2018 |
| A 2019 paper estimated that fewer than 19 were left by summer 2018. | We estimate fewer than 19 vaquitas remained as of summer 2018 |
| Vaquitas produce a nearly continuous series of echolocation clicks, and with so few left they are detected by sound rather than sight. | they are readily detectable using acoustics because they produce a nearly continuous series of echolocation clicks (note: vibe.reason; same source as the body claim) |

## Robinson et al. (2022). The critically endangered vaquita is not doomed to extinction by inbreeding depression. Science.

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm1742

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a 2022 study in Science worked from a figure of about 10 in 2019 | the number in 2019 (~10) |
| A 2022 genome study suggests that the vaquita's long history of being rare has left it with a low burden of harmful gene variants, which lowers the risk of inbreeding depression | the vaquita's historical rarity has resulted in a low burden of segregating deleterious variation, reducing the risk of inbreeding depression |
| Its simulations suggest the vaquita can recover if bycatch deaths are halted immediately | genome-informed simulations suggest that the vaquita can recover if bycatch mortality is immediately halted |
| A genome study published in Science in 2022 used a figure of about 10 for 2019 | the number in 2019 (~10) |