Vaquitas still exist....barely

 

About a dozen vaquitas were spotted on a recent scientific expedition in the Gulf of California (Handout)

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/vaquitas-still-exist-barely-sea-194136418.html

The vaquita, a small porpoise on the verge of extinction, is still hanging in there, said scientists Wednesday who had spotted about a dozen specimens of Mexico's "panda of the sea" on an expedition in May.

The vaquita is the smallest of all porpoises, similar to dolphins but with shorter beaks and more rounded bodies.

They perish in nets used to illegally catch totoaba, large fish whose swim bladders -- organs used to control buoyancy -- are believed in China to hold medicinal powers.

Scientists conducting a survey of the vaquita's endemic range in the Gulf of California off Mexico's north coast -- spotted between 10 and 13 of the porpoises last month, they reported Wednesday.

"We estimated that the sightings included 1-2 calves and there was a 76 percent probability that the total number seen, including calves, was between 10 and 13 individuals," said a report issued by the NGO Sea Shepherd spearheading vaquita conservation efforts.

"Since the search was in a small portion of the vaquita's historical range, 10-13 is considered a minimum estimate of the number of vaquitas left," it added.

This was about the same number estimated in October 2021.

According to the latest report, all vaquitas sighted in May "appeared to be healthy."

The vaquita is considered the world's most threatened cetacean -- the group of whales, dolphins and porpoises.

Grey-colored porpoises, vaquitas are called "pandas of the sea" for the rings around their eyes.

They grow to about 55 kilograms (120 pounds) and 1.5 metres (five feet) in length.

Elusive by nature, the vaquita is difficult to observe, and little is known about their reproductive life and longevity.

Females are believed to have a single calf every two years or more, according to conservation group WWF.

Vaquitas drown when they get entangled in gillnets -- vertical sheets of netting used to catch fish -- and cannot surface to breathe.

First discovered as a species only in 1958, vaquita numbers plummeted by 92 percent from 1997 to 2005, according to scientists.

The vaquita is listed as "critically endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of threatened species -- the last category before extinction in the wild.

In 2019, UNESCO added the Gulf of California to its list of World Heritage in Danger due to fears of imminent vaquita extinction.

https://porpoise.org/save-the-vaquita/

Dozens of dead sharks wash up on beach in Wales

 Marine experts are investigating the deaths of dozens of small sharks that have washed up on a beach in Wales.

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/dead-sharks-wash-up-beach-wales-100712339.html

Between 25 and 30 starry smooth-hounds – named because of their speckled white spots – were discovered scattered across the sand on Prestatyn beach in Denbighshire on Tuesday morning.

Passers-by posted videos and pictures of the fish to social media before British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) arrived at the site to take samples.

In a post on Facebook, North Wales coordinator at BDMLR, Gem Simmons, urged people to avoid touching and moving the sharks from the beach.

Between 25 and 30 dead sharks were found washed up on Prestatyn beach in Wales. (Reach)

She said she had tried to take samples, but the sharks had "fallen prey to herring gulls".

Simmons told the BBC she was working with Marine Environmental Monitoring to determine how the sharks had washed up on the beach.

She said: "What we wanted was to take samples of the gills, to see if this has happened as a result of by-catch (in fishing nets).”

Simmons said there had been some reports of illegal fishing in the area in recent months but was unable to make any connection as yet.

The sharks were identified as starry smooth-hounds. (Reach)

Shark Guardian, a charity focused on the conservation of sharks, told Yahoo News UK that one possible reason the sharks died was from being discarded as bycatch from fishing activity due to damage around the gills.

Director Brendon Sing added: “Often these sharks are not the target species for fishing but are often caught and discarded.

“If here have been reports of fishing activity in the area this would make sense.”

Smooth-hound sharks are widespread in UK waters and mainly feed on crustaceans and shellfish.

Other similar sharks have washed up on the beach in the past but not in such large numbers.

In 2014 marine biologists suggested that bottom trawling – where boats use large nets with heavy weights to drag the sea floor – was to blame for 55 small sharks washing up on Pwll Du beach in Wales.