Summary
In September 2025, scientists aboard two Sea Shepherd ships searched the northern Gulf of California for vaquitas, using underwater microphones at 66 sites to decide where to look. They most likely saw between 7 and 10 different animals, including at least one or two calves. This counts the vaquitas seen in the area they searched. It is not an estimate of how many are left in total.
Why it matters
This is the most recent survey of the vaquita, and the site’s 2025 figures come from it. Some vaquitas were seen and heard outside the small zone that concrete blocks protect from gillnets, in parts of the Vaquita Refuge where gillnets are still set. The authors call for that part of the refuge to be protected as well.
Key findings
- The observers most likely saw 7 to 10 different vaquitas. The same survey found 6 to 8 in 2024 and 8 to 12 in 2023.
- At least one or two calves were seen, and drone photos showed young animals born since about March 2022.
- Underwater microphones picked up vaquitas 93 times, at 24 of the 66 listening sites, between 2 and 28 September.
- One sighting in five was outside the zone the concrete blocks protect, though still inside the Vaquita Refuge.
- There is no sign of the steep decline of about 45% a year reported several years ago, at least in the area surveyed.
Caveats
The count is a minimum for the area searched, because vaquitas move in and out of it and are hard to spot. The weather was worse than in 2023 and 2024, and for much of the survey an observer had only about a one-in-five chance of spotting a vaquita in the ship’s path. Calves are hard to tell apart from adults by September, so the report gives no count of calves. The authors say the numbers are too uncertain to show whether the population is rising or falling.