Another critical interaction involves the highly endangered northern right whale and New England fisheries. The vaquita, a highly endangered harbor porpoise, is killed in gillnets in the Gulf of California. If this source of mortality is not reduced or eliminated, the vaquita could become extinct in the near future. The critically endangered Chinese river dolphin, or baiji, is also threatened with imminent extinction from entanglement in fishing gear, as well as from habitat degradation and loss. At least 40,000 sea turtles are killed annually in shrimp trawls.
Sea turtles are susceptible to high egg and early-life mortality and rely heavily on adult survival.
In 1991, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service estimated that there were fewer than 1,000 nesting females of the highly endangered Kemp's Ridley turtle. All five sea turtle species found in U.S. waters are threatened or endangered. Another problem associated with bycatch is the water surface discard of unwanted fish, which attracts seabirds and other scavengers. Bait and catch in nets and on lines may also prove to be a fatal attraction to seabirds, including albatrosses and murrelets. Scavenging animals may also abandon their natural foraging behavior.