Vaquita

In 2006, vaquita, a diminutive porpoise making its home in the Upper Gulf of California, inheritedthe dubious title of world's most endangered marine mammal.Nicknamed "panda of the sea” for their small size and beguiling facial markings, vaquitas have been in decline for decades, dying by the hundreds in gillnets intended for commercially valuable fish, as wellas for anendangered fish called totoaba. When international crime cartels discovered a lucrative trade in the swim bladders of totoaba, illegal gillnetting went rampant, and now the lives of the few remaining vaquitas hang in the balance.
Author Brooke Bessesen takes us on a journey to Mexico's Upper Gulf region to uncover the story. She interviewed townspeople, fishermen, scientists, and activists, teasing apart a complex story filled with villains and heroes, a story whose outcome is unclear.When diplomatic and political efforts to save the little porpoise failed, Bessesen followed a team of veterinary experts in...