Are Vaquitas Extinct 2024. Nearly one out of every five vaquita get entangled and drown in gillnets intended for other marine species like the. Given the 45% annual decline estimated in 2018, most people expected mexico’s vaquita porpoise to already be extinct.

Since 2015, sea shepherd has worked with mexican authorities to protect the vaquita by preventing the placement of, and removing, illegal fishing gear inside the vaquita. If the vaquita is protected and the gillnet deaths stop completely, the team estimated that there would only be a 6 percent chance that the porpoise would go extinct in.