Vaquita Porpoise and IWC

• The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has issued an extinction alert for the vaquita porpoise, whose population is estimated to have shrunk to less than a dozen.
• This marks the institution’s first-ever extinction warning.
• The IWC’s scientific committee highlighted in a report an 83% drop in the vaquita’s population between 2015 and 2018 to only nine or 10 of the marine animals in total.

About Vaquita

• The critically endangered vaquita is the world’s smallest porpoise.
• It is also known as vaquita marina.
• It is native to Mexico’s Gulf of California.
• They are known for their distinctive appearance, characterized by dark rings around their eyes and dark patches on their lips.
• It has been imperiled by illegal gill net fishing for an endangered fish called the totoaba, whose bladder is highly valued in Asia.

About IWC

• International Whaling Commission was set up as an inter-governmental organisation under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (1946).
• Headquarters- Cambridge, England
• It has 88 member countries including India.
• The objective of the International Whaling Commission is to ensure the proper conservation of whale stocks and, in turn, enable the industry’s orderly growth.