In 2024, the annual vaquita census expedition co-led by the nongovernmental organization Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Mexico\u2019s Natural Protected Areas Commission (CONANP) returned only six to eight specimens<\/a>, down from between eight and 13 in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, sound monitoring operations carried out in the upper Gulf of California have logged 41 acoustic encounters with the vaquita, representing a step forward in conservation.<\/p>\n An acoustic encounter is like a ping that helps scientists map the location of mammals like the vaquita, which emit sounds at a higher frequency than is detectable by the human ear.<\/p>\n Shhh, vaquita are talking. Hydrophones record the vaquita and help scientists know where to visually observe them. Visit https:\/\/t.co\/cGLTZfbeQv<\/a>. pic.twitter.com\/Z7UBgTz9GS<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sea Shepherd US (@SeaShepherdSSCS) July 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The number of acoustic encounters does not directly confirm that there are 41 vaquita in the upper Gulf of California \u2014 the same vaquita may trigger an acoustic encounter more than once \u2014 though the high number of encounters means the vaquita population is likely larger than recorded in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have new records, more records, and I think that is a sign of hope,\u201d said the Environment Ministry\u2019s Deputy Minister of Biodiversity and Restoration Marina Robles Garc\u00eda on Wednesday, during the GIS\u2019s second session of 2025<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a juvenile that had not been seen for six or eight years, and that tells us that there may be other areas that are being used as refuge by the vaquita.\u201d<\/p>\n Annual Sea Shepherd observation cruises will be carried out from Sept. 3 to 13 in the region to conduct a new population census.<\/p>\n Alejandro Olivera, the Mexican representative for the Center for Biological Diversity, does not expect the vaquita population to increase substantially in 2025, however. <\/p>\n Given the prior census figures and the fact that the vaquita\u2019s gestation period is longer than a year, repopulation will be a gradual process, he said in an interview with the newspaper La Jornada.<\/p>\n On Friday, the Environment Ministry (Semarnat) announced that it had strengthened its conservation efforts to include maritime patrols, ghost net removal, environmental education, sustainable production alternatives and scientific monitoring, in coordination with state and local actors.<\/p>\n While conservation efforts have improved in recent years, Olivera stressed the need to enhance efforts in line with the 2023 Action Plan<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The installation of geolocation systems on small vessels, the use of alternative fishing nets, coordination with Interpol to stop poaching and greater organization among the governments of Mexico, the United States and China to prevent the illegal trafficking of totoaba<\/a> could enhance conservation work, according to Olivera.\u00a0<\/p>\n With reports from La Jornada<\/a> and Once Noticias<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Marine](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GLUKhcDW4AAVEyt.jpg\")
Staff of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society on the 2023 vaquita survey mission. Since 2015, the NGO has been working with the Mexican government to protect the vaquita porpoise in the Gulf of California, the critically endangered marine mammal\u2019s only habitat. (Conamp\/X)<\/p>\n