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[In Depth] World's most endangered marine mammal down to 30

ScienceNOW - Fetched: February 9th, 2017, 3:00pm UTC

Only 30 vaquitas, a small porpoise in Mexico's Gulf of California, remain. A just-released report shows that the cetacean's numbers dropped by almost half from 2015 to 2016 because of gillnets. Scientists expect the vaquita to be extinct in a few years' time, unless they intervene. If that happens, the vaquita will become the second marine mammal species to go extinct in this century. To save the porpoise, a recovery team plans to capture some of the remaining animals in October for captive breeding. U.S. Navy bottlenose dolphins may help locate the shy vaquitas, which will be cared for in sea pens in the gulf. Author: Virginia Morell

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