Hunted nearly to extinction during 20th century whaling, the Antarctic blue whale, the world's largest animal, went from a population size of roughly 200,000 to little more than 300. The most recent estimate in 2004 put Antarctic blue whales at less than 1% of their pre-whaling levels.
  • @JubilantJaguar
    1•4 hours ago

    TLDR:

    The team found frequent mixing among the [Atlantic, Indian and Pacific] ocean basins, suggesting that whales do not return to the same basin every year. This points to Antarctic blue whales being one single circumpolar population in the Southern Ocean.

    If we somehow let this magnificent animal go extinct, it will be the ultimate symbol of our failure as species.