Trained mammals to herd vaquitas into marine refuge

Mexico announced plans on Friday to use trained dolphins to corral the last remaining vaquita marina porpoises into a protected breeding ground, a last-ditch bid to save the critically endangered species.

Scientists estimate there are just 30 remaining vaquitas, the world’s smallest porpoise, a species found only in the waters of the Gulf of California.

To start in September

Environment Minister Rafael Pacchiano said the authorities would deploy dolphins trained by the U.S. Navy to herd as many vaquitas as possible into a marine refuge.

He admitted the project, due to start in September, would be difficult. “We’ve spent the past year working alongside the U.S. Navy with a group of dolphins they had trained to search for missing the scuba divers. We’ve been training them to locate the vaquitas,” he said in an interview with radio network Formula. “We have to guarantee we capture the largest possible number of vaquitas to have an opportunity to save them.”

The government also announced on Friday it has permanently banned the fishing nets in which vaquitas are often killed. The nets, known as gillnets, are used to catch another species, the totoaba fish, whose swim bladder is considered a delicacy in China and can fetch $20,000 per kg.

WWF hails move

The World Wildlife Fund, which has warned the vaquita risks going extinct by next year, praised the move.

The latest measures come after Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto signed a deal on June 7 with Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim to increase efforts to save the vaquita.

DiCaprio had taken Pena Nieto to task on social media for not doing enough to save the species. Later, the two buried the hatchet. The Hollywood heartthrob welcomed the permanent gillnet ban as “great news” on Twitter.