Friday, August 14, 2015

Vaquita is the rarest species of porpoise which is the globe’s smallest cetacean.Their natural habitat is the northern finish of the Gulf of California. This exclusive marine mammal is critically in danger and its estimated population consists of hardly 150 men and women. Vaquita ( Phocoena sinus ) belongs to the household, Phocoenidae and falls in the order, Cetacea. Vaquita is term employed in Spanish as “little cow” and they are also identified as Cochito. Probably the nameis offered to Vaquita due to their wonderful physical description. Vaquitas have distinctive dark rings around the eyes and mouth, and a dark stripe from the chin to the base of the flipper.


The Rare Vaquita

The colour of the upper side of the body of Vaquita is dark grey even though the underside of the body is off-white. The approximate body length of Vaquita is 120-150 cm which can be slightly varied in male and female Vaquita. The diet program of Vaquita includes Bony fish and Squids and they can weigh up to 50 Kg. They are generally observed living in the warm shallow waters of the Gulf of California and they travel in a group of 1-3 men and women. The reproduction in Vaquitas occurs seasonal and the female Vaquita provides birth to a single young in the month of March. The average life span of Vaquita is observed as 21 years.

Vaquita’s populations is constantly decreasing and they are listed in the Red list of threatened species of IUCN. The conservation approaches are under process to safeguard Vaquita, the rarest popoise in marine life. Though Vaquitas are not threatened by direct hunting but they are usually killed incidentally getting stuck in fishing gears. A lot of restrictions are imposed for fishing where the remaining reserve of Vaquita is existing and this region is declared as a buffer zone. Vaquitas are also listed as endangered below the Endangered Species Act by the  government of the United States.

Tagged: , , , , ,

0 comments:

Post a Comment