As scheduled, the 2025 Vaquita Marina Observation Cruise began this Wednesday, September 3rd, in San Felipe, Baja California, aboard the sister ships Seahorse and Bob Barker of the international organization Sea Shepherd.
The team of 14 scientists from Mexico, the United States, and Canada, 17 members of the community observer group, as well as personnel from the Federal Attorney’s Office for Environmental Protection (Profepa), the Ministry of the Navy (Semar), and the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp), began their activities in the Upper Gulf of California.
The vessels are equipped with high-range binoculars called “Big Eyes” for visual monitoring and are supported by drones that will seek to document the presence of the world’s most endangered marine mammal, under the command of renowned researcher Barbara Taylor.
In parallel, a network of underwater hydrophones was deployed by a group of experts from Conanp, led by Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho, “Mr. Vaquita,” obtaining crucial data on the species’ location and movements.
In addition, the group of community observers joined the search thanks to the support of Mexican organizations such as the Intercultural Center for Desert and Ocean Studies (CEDO) and Pronatura Noroeste.
The objective of the 2025 Vaquita Observation Cruise is to understand the current distribution area of the Phocoena sinus, in order to support scientific information for actions to protect and conserve the species.
The results of the last expedition, carried out from May 5 to 26, 2024, showed that at least six to eight adult and juvenile vaquita marina specimens remain.
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Source: excelsior
