The vaquita is the world's smallest porpoise, and it is close to extinction. I started a Change.org petition to the Mexican government asking for action against the illegal fishing that is killing it. More than 1,600 people from around the world signed.
- signatures from people around the world
- 1,600+signatures from people around the world
The animal
The vaquita (Phocoena sinus) lives only in a small stretch of water off the coast of Mexico. It's critically endangered — survey estimates in recent years put the remaining population at only around ten animals.
The threat
Vaquitas drown after getting tangled in gillnets. Many of those nets are set illegally to catch totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder sells for huge sums on the black market. The vaquita isn't the target — it's caught by accident, and there are too few left to absorb any losses.
Why a petition
I started the petition when I was 11, in middle school. I couldn't patrol those waters myself, but I could make it visible that people care. The petition asks the Mexican government to stop the illegal fishing in the vaquita's habitat. More than 1,600 people around the world added their names, and a companion website points visitors to it.