Mexican navy sets hooks for illegal nets in bid to help vaquita porpoise

A vaquita porpoise (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

The Mexican navy has begun a controversial plan to drop concrete blocks onto the bottom of the Gulf of California to snag illegal nets that drown critically endangered vaquita marina porpoises.

As few as eight of the tiny, elusive porpoises remain in the Gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez. It is the only place they live, and they cannot be captured and bred in captivity.