The desperate race to save the vaquita
The distinguishing eye markings of the vaquita The race is on to save the world's smallest cetacean, the vaquita, a unique and beautiful porpoise. Until a couple of months ago, I’d never heard of a vaquita: a beautifully elusive porpoise which is also unknown to Word since it doesn’t recognise its name. For this reason, I am shrugging off the mantle of blame for my ignorance. After all, I live in the UK - vaquitas are endemic to the Gulf of California; I live nowhere near the sea - they live in the Sea of Cortez; Word doesn’t recognise its name – I am a wordsmith, not a nautical expert with a degree in ecology and marine biology. You can’t really be surprised at most of my generation being unaware of vaquitas either – they were only discovered in 1958. Being so rare, it is unfortunately due to the threat of extinction that they have now swum reluctantly into the media light. You only need to look at a picture of a vaquita to see how uniquely beautiful t