Academy Award-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio called on his massive Twitter following this week to help bring attention to and help conserve the most endangered marine mammal in the world.
The star’s plea prompted a response from the Mexican president and forcing the mammal to trend on the social platform.
With fewer than 30 vaquita left, the time to act is now. #SavetheVaquita https://t.co/iQD8q4ottZ
— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) May 12, 2017
“With fewer than 30 vaquita left, the time to act is now. #SavetheVaquita,” DiCaprio tweeted.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto didn’t address DiCaprio directly, but responded to the issue, writing: “Mexico’s government is making a major effort, doing what should have been done decades ago to save the Laquita Marina.”
Mexico’s government is making a major effort, doing what should have been done decades ago to save the Vaquita Marina.
— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) May 12, 2017
The dark-eyed vaquita porpoise is estimated to go completely extinct by the middle of 2018, the BBC reports, their population having plummeted by 90 percent in the last six years.
Fight for the critically endangered #vaquita. Fewer than 30 left in the world. We can save them @EPN . #Mexico https://t.co/FVoeETPHdB pic.twitter.com/PSrfbZiR0Q
— Humanity Strong ™ (@HumanityStrong) May 16, 2017
Many of the porpoises are often accidentally killed in gillnets, according to the BBC, which were banned for two years in 2015. Conservationists and researchers reportedly hope the Mexican government will extend and strengthen the existing ban in light of the species’ state of critical endangerment.
The rare mammal lives exclusively in the Gulf of California, a world heritage site situated between the Mexican mainland and the Baja peninsula. The waters are home to both a massive area of biodiversity and half of Mexico’s total fisheries production.
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