Did you know that there’s a family of fish called “pig-fish”? Yes! Porpoise is a Norman French word for “Pork Poisson” which means “pig fish”.
The Porpoise is a family of aquatic animals that looks like dolphins but are more related to Narwhals and Beluga Whales. They are toothed whales whose teeth are spade-shaped unlike the conical-shaped teeth of the dolphins. The porpoise don’t have pronounced beak that the dolphins have.
The Vaquita’s are a species of porpoise and are the smallest living cetaceans.
Their private life in the ocean is the reason why there’s limited information gathered about their history.
The U.S. and Mexican governments recognized the species’ critical existence and have implemented several laws to conserve it. However, the illegal use of gill net fishing is still ongoing.
Would you believe that there are only 10 Vaquita left in the wild? Unfortunately, yes. This is according the nytimes.com article published in November 2021.
Reading about the Laquita’s made me realize the disadvantage of not being able to adapt to change.
Although humans tried to help the Laquita in captivity, they needed up dying because the felt threatened.
Inability to adapt can cause undue stress which can decrease life expectancy.
“Change is the only constant in life.” – Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher,
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” – Charles Darwin
May we all learn to accept and discern the changes that will crate a positive impact in our lives.
Poem written by Salvacion Roselle Reyes
Photo credit: Adobe Creative Cloud Express.