The vaquita is the world's most endangered marine mammal, with fewer than 10 individuals remaining despite intensive conservation efforts.
The welfare situation for remaining vaquitas involves extreme chronic stress from ongoing gillnet entanglement risk, acoustic disturbance from enforcement vessels, and the physiological effects of extreme population bottleneck. The failed captive rescue attempt demonstrated that vaquitas are highly sensitive to handling stress. Conservation strategy has shifted to habitat protection with active removal of illegal nets and supply chain enforcement targeting totoaba trafficking to eliminate the economic incentive for illegal fishing.