Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

The vaquita (Phocoena sinus) are endemic to the northernmost portion of the Gulf of California and are the world’s most endangered cetacean. Vaquita, like other toothed whales, have the ability to echolocate, which is the use of biological sonar to investigate their environment. Acoustics allow scientists to study these animals’ behavior, biology, and population dynamics more easily. This project aimed to use Finite Element Modeling (FEM) to understand the interaction between acoustic stimuli and the anatomy of the vaquita.