Fishing boats shot at activists protecting rare Mexican porpoise, group says

FILE PHOTO: A California Gulf porpoise, also known as a vaquita, monument (R) is seen in San Felipe in Mexico's state of Baja California March 7, 2008, The vaquita, a tiny stubby-nosed porpoise found only in Mexico's Sea of Cortez, is on the brink of extinction as more die each year in fishing nets than are being born, biologists say. REUTERS/Henry Romero

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Fishing skiffs chased and shot at a vessel carrying environmental activists monitoring a near-extinct porpoise species in a protected zone of Mexico's Gulf of California at the weekend, conservation group Sea Shepherd said.

There are thought to be only between six and 20 of the vaquita porpoises left. Poachers have been flouting an international ban on entering the species' last sanctuary off the coast of Mexico.