Searching for the Vaquita

****The following is another guest post from volunteer Joe Shull who has been assisting on all levels of production with our current shoot for Souls of the Vermilion Sea in San Felipe, Mexico.****

Having spent most of our time in Mexico on land, it was now time to leave the Villa. We took another Panga, similar to the one we took several days ago to deploy acoustic monitoring equipment, and headed out at dawn to meet up with the marine research vessel, “Ocean Star”. The ride was much smoother than our previous panga trip, with calm, smooth waters. It was also a much shorter ride as the research vessel was relatively close to San Felipe Marina. As the sun was rising we boarded the massive vessel. We were greeted by Barbara Taylor, the Chief Scientist of this Vaquita Survey Expedition. We also met Tim Gerrodette, who works for NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center as a marine mammal researcher, and the three of us took a tour of the ship. The first thing I noticed as we entered the interior of the ship was the air conditioning – this was the first cool air that we had felt in five days! Tim showed us our 8 foot by 10 foot cabin that Matt and I would share for the next few days. We unloaded our camera gear and begin meeting and interviewing some of the scientists. They tell us that in the few days they have been out they have had a hundred and four sightings of whales, dolphins and seals, but no Vaquita.

There are approximately ten scientists who use binoculars from sun up to sundown rotating a half hour at each set of binoculars. The binoculars that they use are mounted to the ship and are similar to the kind you would find on whale watching expeditions. At each set of binoculars, a scientist scans the horizon approximately one km out searching for air breathing mammals, in particular the Vaquita. Many of the scientists are seasoned veterans on this trip and work a choreographed script day in and day out, staring at the endless sea and feeling the burn of the sun. According to the hydrophone readings (like the ones we assisted in deploying two days ago) we are entering Vaquita territory.

Being on the ship you can sense a flurry of emotions among the scientists. Excitement, frustration, and anticipation are among a few that come to mind. Tim is among those that have dedicated his career to saving the species only to see declines year after year, but Tim remains confident there are Vaquita still out there to find. This year could be the fewest ever recorded however, and it will take countless hours from this team over the next two months get an accurate population estimate. The consensus for now is that there are between 20 and 100 individuals left in the World, but with a precipitous decline over the past five years it’s possible that none will be sighted at all on this survey effort. The crew will continue to follow pre-determined grid lines within the small range of the Vaquita for the next two months searching for the small dorsal fin of a Vaquita.

The Vaquita is only found in this region of the world, the Northern Gulf Coastal region of the Sea of Cortez, also known as the Vermillion Sea. Barbara Taylor, a seasoned veteran of vaquita survey efforts, has seen a cetacean species (the group that includes porpoises, dolphins and whales) disappear before! Barbara participated in the survey effort for the Yangtze River Dolphin in 2006, after which the species was declared extinct. She is also one of the few to be on all three of the previous vaquita survey missions, the first of which occurred in 1997. It’s clear that Barbara is deeply worried that she will see the vaquita face the same fate as this now extinct river dophin.

Looking out into the vast sea she explains that in 2008 on the last survey mission, although gill net fishing had already been banned within the small Vaquita Refuge, there were fisherman completely surrounding this preserve in high density. Today we do not see a single fishing boat – the Mexican Navy is strongly enforcing this two-year ban on all fishing with gill nets in the region.

Bob Pitman is another seasoned marine ecologist who has been on all three vaquita survey expeditions. We hear from other scientists aboard the ship that Bob is the best in the World at spotting and identifying marine mammals in an instant. Bob has also seen more marine mammal species than anyone else on the planet, with all but seven species checked off his list.

Filming on the top deck just a few short hours after boarding the ship we hear Bob’s voice say the word “Vaquita!” The excitement level elevates and those below deck grab binoculars to help confirm the sighting. The Vaquita porpoise is hard to see and too far out for video, but it is confirmed through the binoculars that there are possibly three Vaquita sighted and these sightings are assigned numbers 105, 106, and 107. There is excitement on deck, but the team, without pause quickly returns to their mission. The scientists know their job is only beginning and there are many more long hot days under the Sun.

We were on the ship less than four hours before a Vaquita was spotted and we cannot believe our luck! It’s clear to us that we’ve had the privilege of observing a truly momentous occasion and we share in the joy and excitement of the crew.

The Mexican government agency SEMARNAT (Secretaria do Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) is funding this survey and will also be involved in all aspects including media coverage. Tomorrow morning there will be media members and dignitaries arriving on ship to cover the story. Much of the crew will be taking this opportunity to spend a day on the mainland and enjoy the area’s beautiful beaches, and we’ll be leaving the ship along with them.

As the ship heads back to San Felipe for our departure tomorrow, I am mixed with emotion. It would be nice to stay longer, but we know there is another boat on its way to pick us up and head out in a few days using different techniques to find Vaquita. We were very fortunate to be a part of this first vaquita sighting of the mission – many onboard have been waiting eight years (the time since the last vaquita survey mission) to see a Vaquita and we were only on board for a few hours before the sighting! We can only hope that this was just the first of many vaquita sightings on board the Ocean Star as it continues searching for this elusive porpoise over the next two months.

-Joe Shull

Souls of the Vermilion Sea website