By: Maggie Z

The vaquita is probably the cutest critter you’ll ever see. It looks similar to a dolphin, but it has no beak. It has a natural smile and large black rings around its eyes, making them look larger than they actually are. The bad news? They’re going extinct.

Yeah, you’ve probably heard of lots of animals that are ‘going extinct’ or ‘endangered.’ But the vaquita is the most endangered animal of all: less than ten of them are left on the face of Earth!

According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the biggest threat to vaquitas is death by getting entangled and drowning in nets cast by illegal fishing boats. The nets are meant for, and quite often catch, other fish, namely the totoaba, another endangered fish. The vaquitas can get trapped in those nets and run out of air. It is estimated that about one out of every five vaquitas die from drowning in fish nets. That’s a lot.

If this threat isn’t eliminated immediately, the vaquita will go extinct before 2025. The extinction of a species can greatly unbalance the food webs of its ecosystem, resulting in devastating consequences. We need to take action. If every person on the planet takes one step to save the planet, it will go a long way.