Dear Vaquita, Don’t Leave Me!

Posted: 1st June 2017

Vrinda Shankar is a 17 year old Indian who loves wildlife and has written a wonderful poem to draw attention to the plight of the Vaquita, a small porpoise that’s on the edge of extinction.

Vaquitas are often caught and drowned in gill-nets used by illegal fishing operations in marine protected areas within Mexico’s Gulf of California. The Vaquita has been listed as critically endangered since 1996! The population was estimated at 600 in 1997, below 100 in 2014, approximately 60 in 2015 and approximately 30 in November 2016, leading to the conclusion that the species will soon be extinct unless drastic action is taken. Here’s Vrinda’s poem entitled: Dear Vaquita, Don’t Leave Me!

Far, far away you are from me.
Still your tale of struggle reaches me without any difficulty.

You are now less than thirty
Just because we are Greedy!
Some handful of us, want to set everything right.
Please help them, Oh The Almighty!

You are not merely in books,
But in the blue too.
Fight for your existence,
As we stand with you.

Mightier than the gill nets,
Adapting to changing qualities of the blue.
Say it to the greed of the humans,
‘I AM STRONGER THAN YOU!’.

You are not alone,
We stand by you, for you and with you.

The magical, spellbound beauty of yours,
Is what is treasured by me.
It is my desire to see yo
Not only in dreams, but also in reality.

The beauty of the endless,
Is nothing without you.
The Upper Gulf Of California,
Is incomplete without you.

Don’t leave the blue
As you are its need,
Don’t leave us,
As eras wait for you to see.

Neither have I met you,
Nor have you seen me.
But please VAQUITA,
Oh Dear Vaquita !
DON’T LEAVE ME…

Vaquita population drops below 30 as US Navy dolphins race to save them from extinction

Last-ditch attempt to save the endangered vaquita porpoise