Bajis Extinction May Save The Vaquita

After spending time on an expedition on the Yangtze river inChina, Dr. Barlow was one the of scientists that had to break the bad news tothe world. The Baji river dolphin is extinct. Scientists got there too late forthe rare river dolphin, but hopefully it served as a wake up call.

Now Barlow is working with Mexico in hopes of saving anotherrare cetacean, the vaquita. Found in the Gulf of California, this porpoise isin dire need of help, which Barlow says, they may be getting. He now see Mexicotrying to save the vaquita and hopes to remove all the discarded fishing netsthat they get entangled in and drown.

For the first time Barlow is excited about the chances ofthe vaquita. It is shame, however, that it took a loss of a species to saveanother, but at least we are making progress.