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A vaquita. Photo: Thomas Jefferson

Scientific Committee gives first ever official species extinction warning

Vaquita. Photo Thomas Jefferson

Scientific Committee gives first ever official species extinction warning

Photo: Thomas Jefferson We have welcomed the urgent call by experts to protect the vaquita porpoise following the first ever official warning of the imminent extinction of a species by the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC)  – the global body that regulates whale hunting, and conservation of whales, dolphins and porpoises. Its…

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Trade sanctions announced after Mexico fails to protect near extinct porpoise

The international body behind the treaty that protects endangered plants and animals from the threats of international trade has announced sanctions against Mexico for its failure to control illegal fishing and trade that endangers the vaquita porpoise. CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) has asked most nations around…

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Dolphins to be used to locate highly endangered vaquita

According to reports from Mexico, the government there is to go ahead with plans to use dolphins trained by the US Navy to try to save the world’s most endangered marine species, the vaquita. Vaquita are the world’s smallest and one of the most endangered species of whale, dolphin or porpoise on the planet. Found…

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So how was the IWC for you?

So IWC66 ends with a celebration of whale-themed ties, which, believe it or not, was won by a Japanese delegate. He was sporting a bright Moby Dick themed tie. so I guess that, as it’s a whaling themed tie, the individual concerned may be allowed back into Japan’s Far Seas Fisheries building where their whaling…

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Mexico to ban gillnets in attempt to save the vaquita

Mexico has announced that it is to permanently ban the use of gillnets in the waters where the highly endangered vaquita is found, in an attempt to save the species from extinction. The vaquita, which translates from spanish as “little cow”, is a species of porpoise, whose numbers are thought to have dropped to around…

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Whaling commission voices grave concern over Maui’s dolphin future

Scientists from the International Whaling Commission have voiced their “grave concern” for the endangered Maui’s dolphin, a sub-species of the New Zealand dolphin. Estimates for the number of remaing dolphins range from 43 to 69 with one researcher, Dr. Liz Slooten, predicting there could be just a few individuals left within a couple of decades.…

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