Facts about the Vaquita

  1. Vaquitas are polydactylous,meaing that they have an extra digit in each flipper

  2. Scientifficaly discovered as a new species in 1958

  3. The vaquita is also called “vaquita marina” and the Gulf of California harbor porpoise. Vaquita is Spanish for “little cow” and “vaquita marina” is Spanish for “little sea cow.”

  4. Similar to dolphins, Vaquitas use echolaction to find their war around in murky and water and possibly for communiction though this has not been confirmed

  5. Porposies like vaquitas do differ from dolphins in several ways. First off porposies do not have a beak like a dolphin has, porposies also have spade-shaped unlike the dolphin who has conical teeth

  6. The prey of the vaquitas mostly include some fish, crustaceans and squids

  7. The clicks that the vaquita produce are probably lie outside the hearing range of their prey allowing the vaquita to easily sneak up on its prey

  8. While most porpoises inhabit cold waters, water temperatures in the vaquita’s habitat can exceed 32°C (90°F) in the summer and fall. Its proportionally larger dorsal fin and flippers help a vaquita off load extra body heat in warmer waters.