By Becca Burke
In the Gulf of Cortez, employees of the video production company Wild Lens Inc. and Boise State biology student Joe Schull stood at attention on board the Ocean Star and Maria Cleofas vessels. They were searching the warm blue waters for a glimpse of one of the most elusive and rare mammals in the ocean, the vaquita.
A vaquita is a small porpoise, distinguishable by coloring that consists of various shades of grey with unique markings such as black eye rings, lips and chin. Vaquitas were discovered in 1958, and now half a century later they are on the verge of extinction, with less than 100 individuals remaining on the planet and a population that is decreasing by 18 percent per year.
Wild Lens is a not-for-profit company based in Boise and focused on wildlife conservation issues across the globe. After meeting Matt Podolsky, president and co-founder of Wild Lens, Schull asked if he could join Podolsky and Wild Lens on their upcoming trip to Mexico.
“I wasn’t actually seeking an intern for this past trip to Mexico to shoot for our documentary about the vaquita, but while giving a presentation at the Aquarium of Boise about vaquita conservation, Joe expressed a genuine interest in getting involved,” Podolsky said.
Schull spent countless hours scanning the horizon to spot the vaquita in open water and he was the first crewmember to have a sighting. In addition to working with Podolsky and the crew from Wild Lens, Schull spent time with expert marine mammal researchers and was able to weigh in with his personal observations on the issue of vaquita conservation and their rapid decline.
The use of gillnets has been directly attributed to the vaquita’s decline. Gillnets are a long wall-like net that hangs in the water. The net is designed to allow the fish to enter and their heads to pass through the holes; once the fish try to exit the net their fins become ensnared. Large mammals like vaquitas, dolphins, whales and sea turtles also can become entangled within gillnets, resulting in the inability to feed, growth constriction, injury, infection or drowning. Beginning in April 2015, Mexico placed a two-year ban on gillnet fishing in vaquita habitat in order to help with conservation efforts.
Wild Lens’ final documentary about the vaquita, titled “Souls of the Vermillion Sea,” won’t be available for two to three years, as filming just began this past spring. Wild Lens plans to continue documenting the conservation issues and efforts during the entire ban on gillnet fishing in Mexico. The company hopes to release documentary shorts every six months over the course of production, with the first debut planned for January 2016.
Schull won’t soon forget the opportunity to be involved in this documentary: “I knew very little about the vaquita before this project and now after my experience I think it is my duty to help educate others about the vaquita and its journey from the brink of extinction,” Schull said.
For more information about the vaquita project or any of the conservation efforts at Wild Lens, and to read the blog that detailed the documentary trip, visit www.wildlensinc.org. For more photos and a film preview, visit http://vaquitafilm.com/.
BY: SHERRY SQUIRES PUBLISHED 10:51 AM / NOVEMBER 4, 2015