Rescue failure

A desperate attempt to save the 30 surviving members of the world’s most endangered marine mammal species by capturing them and keeping them in human care has been abandoned.

The plan to rescue the vaquitas by patrolling their small habitat in the Gulf of California with the help of dolphins trained by the U.S. Navy was halted soon after the first vaquita captured quickly showed signs of extreme stress and had to be released. A second died a few hours after being caught.

“This is a very, very serious setback,” said project scientist Barbara Taylor, of the U.S. agency NOAA. She said the vaquita’s only hope now is to curb the illegal net fishing that inadvertently ensnares them.