The Vaquita is on the Edge of Extinction – Can Technology Save It?

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Have you heard of the vaquita?

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It's a small porpoise

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about four to five feet,

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90 to 120 pounds, and it

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lives in the Gulf of California,

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or also known as the

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Sea of Cortez in Mexico.

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And it's critically endangered.

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It's critically endangered

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because of fishing for a fish

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that's called the totoa alba,

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where the swim bladders are

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used for medicinal purposes

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over in China.

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We're gonna talk about

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why conserving these animals

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and getting above the 10

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individuals that they're at now,

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estimated to be lower

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than 10 individuals,

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why that's so important and

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why we need to conserve this

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and what we need to do

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to help conserve this.

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I'm gonna give you a

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breakdown of why they're critically

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endangered, what's been happening.

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And I'm also gonna talk

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about some of the new technology

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that can help in

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monitoring the protection

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and making sure that we

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can get these vaquita back

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to a healthy state.

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On this episode of the "How

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to Protect the Ocean" podcast,

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let's start the show.

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Hey everybody, welcome back

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to another exciting episode

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of the "How to

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Protect the Ocean" podcast.

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I'm your host, Andrew Lewin.

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And this is the podcast where you find

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out what's happening

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with the ocean, how you

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can speak up for the ocean,

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what you can do to live for a better

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ocean by taking action.

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Now, today's episode, we are going to be

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talking about the vaquita

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and we're gonna be talking about a fish

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called the Totoauba.

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I'm gonna break down why these

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two ocean animals are related

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and what we need to do to help protect

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both of these animals.

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We're gonna talk about new technology

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that can actually help us do that.

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And some of the

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organizations that are helping out,

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some of them have been a controversy

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around them in the past,

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but they're actually helping

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out right now in the present

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and hopefully in the future.

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So we're gonna talk all about that.

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But before we do that, if you want to

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find out more about this podcast

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and find out more about what you can do

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to live for a better ocean

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and how to protect that ocean, just

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subscribe to the podcast

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on this YouTube channel.

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Go to speakupforblue.com to

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find all of our other episodes.

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All right.

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Let's get back into the episode.

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The vaquita.

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Wonderful animal.

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Cute little thing.

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They always say it has like

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eyeshadow around its eyes.

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Just got black around its eyes and it's

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got these black lips.

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Really cool animal to be able to see.

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Obviously very rare.

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Rarest marine mammal in the world.

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Critically endangered.

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Under 10 individuals.

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It's under 10 individuals because of gill

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netting for a fish called the Toto Alba.

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Toto Alba have the swim bladders

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that Asian countries really

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enjoy for medicinal purposes.

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Even though there hasn't been any link to

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the fact that you can

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use it for medicinal use.

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And they'll actually help in whatever

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they're being helped for

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or they're being used for.

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However, they're still being caught.

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And now it's gotten to the point where

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it's a little out of control.

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There's a huge network of illegal

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wildlife trafficking

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because it is illegal to fish

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for the total Alba.

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It is illegal to fish for the vaquita.

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But what happens essentially is when you

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put the gill nets in,

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it's basically a big net

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that goes down the water column.

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Fish swim into it.

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They get caught into it.

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And unfortunately, it can be a little bit

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discriminatory for certain fish.

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Like bigger fish will have smaller nets.

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You can allow the grading the actual net

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size or the mesh size to go through.

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So allow smaller fish to go through and

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bigger fish get

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caught on those gill nets.

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But also porpoises get caught.

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You can get dolphins, some other fish

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like sharks, but you

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can also get the vaquita,

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which is known and it's

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endemic in the Sea of Cortez.

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And it's a big, big problem.

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It's taken that critically endangered

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species from about 95

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individuals a while ago.

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And they just plummeted

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down to under 10 recently.

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And it's been steady for

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about the last 10 years or so.

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And there have been efforts to decrease

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the incentive to fish for a total Alba.

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There's been efforts to monitor the Sea

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of Cortez, Gulf of California,

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to make sure that people are not fishing

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for total Alba using those gill nets.

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There's a number of problems really is

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when we look at it is

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the fact that there is a demand in Asia

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for the swim bladders of the total Alba.

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There is a reason and incentive for

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illegal wildlife

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traffickers to bring the swim bladders

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to Asia. There's definitely an incentive

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for that. There's a lot of money in it.

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There is an incentive for the fishers to

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fish for total Alba

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because they get more money

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and fishing communities in Mexico in this

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area are not very rich

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and they can get money that

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can feed their family. So there's a lot

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of incentive to do so.

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The disincentive is like,

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we want to protect the vaquita. We want

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to protect also the total

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Alba, which is also endangered.

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These species are endemic to this area of

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the world and we want to

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make sure that we can protect

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them. We also want to make sure that

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fishers can fish there for quite a long

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time. We also want to

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make sure that we decrease illegal

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activity and we want to make sure that

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there's a big education

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that has to be done around the

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conservation of total Alba to make sure

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that swim bladders are

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not in demand. So how do you do that?

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Well, the first thing that

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the government of Mexico did

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was they established a 1200 kilometer

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square vaquita refuge in

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2005 later enforce a stricter

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288 kilometer squared zero tolerance area

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in 2020 prohibiting all boat

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entries. So when you try and

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enter that area, the enforcement is going

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to stop you because you're

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not supposed to be in that area.

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Patrol initiatives now patrolling is a

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difficult thing you were talking about

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even though this is a

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smaller bay when you talk about the

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ocean. It is a pretty big area and it's

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really hard to track. Satellite imagery

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can track it, but it's also

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never really on the mark at the same

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time. It's really hard to

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catch the boats afterwards.

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Patrolling is probably your best bet.

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That means you require a boat there at

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all times. You require the boat in this

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protected area where the

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vaquitas can survive where the total Alba

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can survive and they can replenish.

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Obviously, this zero tolerance area is

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probably a very

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important area for the vaquita.

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They've probably been seen there and

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they're not easily catchable. Let's just

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say they're not easily seen in terms of

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that's what I mean by catchable in this

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state because they're just elusive.

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They don't like to come to the surface

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too much and when they do, they're so

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small, they just kind of

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come down and back again, right?

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So they don't want to be around. So

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patrolling has been difficult for the

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Mexican Coast Guard, but a collaboration

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between the Mexican Navy and the Sea

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Shepherd Conservation Society,

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which is the controversial organization

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that I was talking about, has led to

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enhanced monitoring of illegal fishing

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through the use of ships,

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sonar, radar and drones.

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This is the new technology that we're

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talking about here. The Sea Shepherd has

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upgraded its patrol vessels over the

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years, currently utilizing a repurposed

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150 foot former petroleum vessel equipped

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with advanced sonar and drone

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capabilities to detect illegal activities

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and monitor vaquita populations.

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This is really great because you can

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actually send the drone out further than

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where the ship is, maybe

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hide in an area further away.

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And so that any kind of fishing vessel

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that enters the no tolerance zone or zero

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tolerance zone can be caught.

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And if they start to fish in a protected

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area for the vaquita refuge, then they

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can actually get caught and they can

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enforce a punishment without having those

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pictures without being

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able to actually catch them.

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These fishers can be quite elusive. That

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would take away the element of surprise.

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But having these drones really help

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having sonar to be able to detect fishing

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gear in the water is also great.

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You can also detect something that I

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didn't realize. You can also detect the

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mass of fish in the area so that sonar

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can help with that as well.

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Now, other organizations like the Earth

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League International emphasize addressing

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the root cause of targeting international

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wildlife trafficking networks and

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reducing the amount of total products

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rather than focusing

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solely on enforcement.

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You're trying to enforce laws against the

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fishers, which I get, but they're not

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rich fishers. They're not making a ton of

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money off this. They're just trying to

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feed their families.

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Take away the incentive for the wildlife

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trafficking networks to be able to sell

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that. Take away the incentive for Asian

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communities to not want the

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swim bladders for total alb

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but also to attack it at each of the

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areas. Go to the local community, invest

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in the local community and educate the

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local community on why this shouldn't

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happen, but also work with them. It's not

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just going in and saying you can't do

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this. This is not how we do conservation.

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That is not the way you go. You work with

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local community. You get people in the

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local community as champions. You start

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to maybe perhaps do alternative types to

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fishing for total alba and do different

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things like that. That's been happening

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over time over the last couple of

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decades. It hasn't been completely perfect.

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It hasn't been completely perfect

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implemented in terms of taking away the

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incentive of catching total of there's

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still the money demand for that. And so

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you have to attack it at the wildlife

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trafficking network. Now that's talking

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about working against organized crime and

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basically the cartels in Mexico are

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scary. And that's a very difficult thing

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to do. And also you're looking at

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educating even countries to decrease the

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demand. That I feel like is a way that we

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can really hit the demand and really

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decrease the demand

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for the swim bladders.

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And so what I think is going to be a way

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to get people to do that is to go in

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communities where they have these swim

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bladders in demand and start to talk to

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them and be like, you know what? You

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don't need this. There's no actual

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indication that these have medical

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01:08:49,250 --> 01:08:51,083
properties that can help you in whatever

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01:08:51,083 --> 01:08:53,416
elements that you have and educate them

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01:08:53,416 --> 01:08:55,375
on that. Hopefully again, working with

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01:08:55,375 --> 01:08:56,875
them, not against them, but working with

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01:08:56,875 --> 01:08:59,000
them. And hopefully that will come to

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fruition. And we see a decrease in

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demand, meaning everything

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else just can't eliminate it.

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And so going after the cartels is one

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thing. Obviously people are going after

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the cartels for different reasons, but

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going after the cartels is a very

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01:09:10,416 --> 01:09:12,666
difficult thing to do. It's scary. It's

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01:09:12,666 --> 01:09:15,000
dangerous going after the fishers little

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01:09:15,000 --> 01:09:16,375
bit easier, but it's still difficult

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01:09:16,375 --> 01:09:17,791
because there's still that incentive for

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01:09:17,791 --> 01:09:19,416
money and to be able to feed their

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01:09:19,416 --> 01:09:20,833
families and get their kids to go to

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school. It's a very complex situation.

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And unfortunately, the vaquita is

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suffering for it and the total out, but

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of course, but the vaquita suffering for

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01:09:27,625 --> 01:09:30,625
less than 10 individuals in the wild.

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That is a difficult thing. There are no

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vaquitas in Capitos.

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So it's all in the wild. So less than 10

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01:09:36,500 --> 01:09:38,458
individuals. Hopefully we're going to

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01:09:38,458 --> 01:09:40,208
start to see that increase with these

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01:09:40,208 --> 01:09:41,916
types of initiatives. Technology is

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helping with the monitoring. Education

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can help with the decrease for demand.

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01:09:46,208 --> 01:09:47,875
And hopefully during that time, the

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wildlife traffic networks just go away

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and don't try sell these swim bladders

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and traffic these swim bladders. But

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that's it for today's episode. Want to

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01:09:54,791 --> 01:09:56,500
give you a breakdown and update on where

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the vaquita is in terms of conservation.

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Nothing in terms of the population has

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01:10:00,500 --> 01:10:02,291
been under 10 individuals for quite some time. Could be lost.

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01:10:02,333 --> 01:10:05,083
We don't know. It could be higher. Like I

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01:10:05,083 --> 01:10:06,666
said, they're very elusive to monitor.

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But having drones, having the ability to

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have sonar, having ships in the area,

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even if it's from Sea Shepherd, this

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could be really helpful to get the

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populations back in healthy shape at some

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point. But that's it for today's episode.

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I'd love to hear what you think of this

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01:10:21,750 --> 01:10:22,916
episode. You can leave a comment down

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01:10:22,916 --> 01:10:25,666
below if you're on YouTube or Spotify, or

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01:10:25,666 --> 01:10:27,333
you can DM me at how to protect the ocean. That's at how to protect the ocean. Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast at the ocean.

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01:10:32,333 --> 01:10:34,625
App as well as on YouTube and Spotify.

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01:10:35,083 --> 01:10:36,208
And thank you so much for joining me on

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today's episode of the how to protect the

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01:10:37,625 --> 01:10:38,958
ocean podcast. I'm your host, Andrew

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01:10:38,958 --> 01:10:40,500
Lewin from the true North strong and

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free. Have a great day. I'll talk to you

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01:10:42,000 --> 01:10:43,333
next time and happy conservation.