Only 10 vaquita porpoises remain in the wild, but scientists say the world's smallest marine mammal could still make a comeback

The vaquita, a small porpoise that lives only in Mexico's Gulf of California, is down to 10 remaining in the wild.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles have found that the world's smallest and most threatened marine mammal may be able to keep its numbers up even with inbreeding.

The genetic makeup of the population was found to be diverse enough to make a recovery after the team analyzed the genomes of 20 tissue samples. The population had been smaller in the wild in 1997 and may be the reason for this.

Having a small population with a less diverse genetic makeup can increase the risk of harm to a population. The vaquitas may have helped to purge harmful genetic traits from spreading.

The vaquitas have a naturally low abundance that has allowed them to purge highly deleterious genes.

The vaquita has a main threat to survival.

gillnets hang down into the ocean and kill vaquita porpoises. These gillnets are used by fishers in Mexico to catch totoaba and shrimp.

There was a high chance that the porpoise would not go extinct if gillnet deaths ceased entirely. The likelihood of species survival drops dramatically if gillnet deaths decrease by 80%.

There is no similar vaquita porpoise in the world and its loss would rob the environment of an important predator.