Flappy Vaquita

Instructions

Save the vaquitas There are less than ten of them left now. (Space to jump) info about vaquitas Vaquitas are the smallest and rarest marine mammals in the world. They are porpoises, not dolphins. What sets them apart from dolphins is their features such as, dark rings around its eyes and black lips. It has a rounded head with no beak, a triangular dorsal fin, and have small, spade-shaped teeth. They live in the gulf of California, the Sea of Cortez. That area has a lot of fish and shrimp, and fishing is a very source of income for the people living there. The sea of Cortez has an incredible amount of diversity, and is studied by many people. There are all kinds of creatures there like sharks, whales, marine turtles, and a lot of reef fish. There are about 900 species of fish, and almost 700 types of plants. The site also has 39% of all the marine mammal species on earth. Like I said in the project, it is critically endangered because of gillnets. These gillnets are usually made to catch totoabas, another endangered species of fish. People want the totoaba's swim bladders because it apparently has healthy benefits and is part of Chinese cuisine and medicine. Many people illegally use gillnets specifically to capture totoabas which kills vaquitas because they have such a similar size and weight. The vaquitas caught in the nets drown to death. Vaquitas are also caught in shrimp nets and other gillnets but not nearly as much. We need the vaquitas because of their importance to the ecosystem. Because they are both predator and prey, if they become extinct, the animals that they eat, such as shrimp, crab, sardines, and squid will overpopulate and the animals that eat them such as sharks and killer whales will have less to eat. If we let the vaquitas go extinct, who knows what could happen to the hundreds of other species in the Sea of Cortez. We should also help them out because of ethical responsibility. Humans caused their decline in population and their extinction is entirely avoidable. Ever since vaquitas became recognized as its own species, in the mid 20th century, they have been mistakenly fished and caught in many different gillnets. Since 1997, the vaquita population has decreased by more than 500 . Then in 2011, the increase of fishing of totoabas decreased the population of vaquitas by 16% each year. If we keep on killing them like this, they will surely go extinct. But we can prevent this by funding organizations and sharing the word about vaquitas. Donate to organizations like the World Wildlife Fund, the Porpoise Conservation Society, the National Marine Mammal Foundation, and VIVA Vaquita.