Endangered species: the Vaquita (help save them, sign the petition)
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The Vaquita's wikipedia page is also saying there are only 12 of these porpoises left.
The WWF page doesn't appear to be quite so up-to-date in its statistics, as it is still saying there are 30 left.
Not that that number is much better, in the grand scheme of things.
In fact, it's pretty horrifying.
Attempts by the Mexican government, alongside conservation groups, in November of 2017 to capture some in the hopes of beginning a breeding programme failed as one of the females died shortly after collection. Quite a setback to a plan with good intentions.
This one, which had died, was photographed aboard the fishing boat whose nets it had been caught up in.
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It can fetch high prices – 200 bladders may be sold for $3.6 million at 2013 prices – as it is erroneously believed by many Chinese to be a treatment for fertility, circulatory, and skin problems. source
- In ideal conditions they can live about 20 years
- They live in shallower waters, rather than being deep-sea mammals
- They enjoy eating crustaceans, squid, and small fish
- Gestation takes between 10 - 11 months; and then its a further 6 - 8 months before the young are independent
- Back in 1997 it was estimated there were about 567 of them
- Sharks are their only natural predators
- They were not 'discovered' until the 1950s
- a.k.a's include: desert porpoise, Gulf of California harbor porpoise, cochito, vaquita marina
- scientific name: Phocoena sinus
- Vaquita means 'little cow'
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They are an important link in the biodiversity chain which exists within their habitat. Their loss will most certainly have a ripple effect; and indeed with such low numbers their whole genetic diversity is affected, as is their ability to even breed.
Please, spread the word before it is too late.
Notes:
There is currently a petition you can sign, aimed at stopping the loss of endangered species. It's quick and painless.
https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/extinction_crisis_loc/
There are websites such as this one, through which you can show financial support by 'adopting' a Vaquita:
http://porpoise.org/gift/adopt-a-vaquita/
Bibliography:
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/vaquita
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaquita
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totoaba
http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/science/Working-with-Endangered-Species/vaquita.html
(extra tags: #geopolis #education #animals #life)
So I am curious where the Vaquita ranks on the scale between Minnow <-> Whale and how much SP does one need in order to be a Vaquita? Is it more, or less, than a dolphin?
😜
lololol, I believe that because of their absolutely rarity they must surely rank higher than even a whale? They are priceless, after all. ;)
I'm not sure if the system works that way. I think on this platform, size matters!
I know, because I'm a sea horse, yet my SP is still pitiful!
Oooooooh, I want to be a seahorse now!
When I was young, I was gifted a seahorse necklace, set in resin. I do hope it wasn't a relation ... ?
As to the Vaquita ranking on Steemit, I do believe it works like this: the less endangered they become, the more obtainable their rank within the system.
So it's kind of like crypto prices... Supply vs Demand. The more Vaquita's there are, the less they are worth!
Good to know.
Now all I need to do is buy up all the Vaquita's, so I can manipulate the Vaquita market.
Sometimes I think I'm too pre-occupied with cryptocurrency...
If the Vaquita's swam in the crypto-currents, would that make it a more or less dangerous habitat for them though?
So begins their downward slide into the obscurity beneath even the redfish.
I hear the crypto-currents are extremely volatile and that sounds pretty unsafe to me!
Perhaps an effective strategy would be to market the Vaquita as cryptocurrent floatation devices, to help one stay afloat when things get rough.
I'm sure their demand would spike immediately, and with the public clamouring for these handy little
lifefinancial savers their future will be assured.You just got a Team NZ upvote!
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Great post. I had never heard of the Vaquita. so sad.
What a depressing report. How many species are just casually thrown away, I mean literally thrown away in a net that wasn't even intended for them. I'm going to Tweet the post out. What can we do? 12....
Yeah, it is all pretty depressing, that's for sure.
Thanks so much for spreading the word. :)
Wanted to let you know how that tweet was doing, so far
Looks like people actually care....
That is awesome, thank you!
No, thank you!!
This is shocking, so few left in the world. Not good, they look similar to the very rare NZ Hectors Dolphin.
They are truly beautiful, aren't they.
I did a quick bit of research and it seems there are about 55 known adults, and they breed even slower than the the Vaquita. Again, so many get caught in nets or sliced by boat propellers. :(
Thanks for drawing attention to this. I have been doing some research on dolphins lately, they have a lot in common with us. It's really a sad thing that we are pushing them towards extinction
It is truly awful that we are destroying so much, simply for human greed - we can't use ignorance as an excuse any longer.
I'm sure they probably already have such a thing, but there should be a DNA bank that would preserve DNA of endangered species. Maybe they could bring back the Dodo.(wiped out by man, not natural causes). At one time I thought I was on the verge of becoming a sunfish, but with crypto falling so much, I'm afraid I'm still just a minnow.:-(
The pendulum may yet swing back and you'll see yourself in all your sunfish glory one day. :D
I keep hearing talk of scientists trying to bring back the Mammoth or some such. I think just because we can do something, doesn't mean we should. The delicate eco-system balance would be thrown right out, although come to think of it Mammoth-poo may yet be the best thing invented for keen gardeners .... hmmmmmm.
This is a terrible thing, do you know if they're trying to preserve any genetic material?
I honestly cannot remember if I saw anything which said they either were or weren't, sorry.
@ravenruis Thank you for not using bidbots on this post and also using the #nobidbot tag!