🐳 Humpback whales in the Southwest Atlantic almost became extinct, but the numbers are now almost back to where they started a hundred years ago.
🐋 It was estimated that some 27,000 humpbacks frequented the southwest Atlantic at the start of the 20th century, but due to intensive commercial whaling, those numbers dwindled to just a few hundred within 30 years’ time.
🛑 Thanks to a full-scale moratorium in the 1960s and other conservation efforts the decline stopped.
📈 In 2019 there are now about 25 000 humpback whales in the Southwest Atlantic.