What it is
The vaquita is a small porpoise found only in the upper Gulf of California, Mexico. IUCN lists it as Critically Endangered. Recent visual surveys (2023–2025) have counted on the order of ten animals. The total is almost certainly under 20; every figure is an estimate from imperfect sightings.
Range
A few thousand square kilometres of shallow water in the northern Gulf of California. It has no other home.
What happened
Gillnets set for totoaba — a fish whose swim bladder is valuable in illegal trade — drown vaquitas as bycatch. A zero-tolerance zone and net bans have not stopped the fishing. The decline is recent and steep: from hundreds in the late twentieth century to a handful now.
When / status
Critically Endangered now, because of people. Extinction is a near-term risk.
Human role
Illegal gillnets, not climate or a shrinking Ice Age range, are the cause.
Sources
IUCN Red List (Phocoena sinus, CR); IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group survey notes, 2023–2025.