Video Courtesy and caption : @dolphindronedom What makes a jaw-droppingly gorgeous scene at sunset with the largest animal on earth possible? Well, it’s the fact that the Blue Whale still exists. As a critically endangered species that once numbered in the hundreds of thousands, only around ten thousand Blue Whales remain today. Here in California, protections have been put in place that have allowed this species to recover in this area, but many threats still remain to the long term survival of this iconic species. Entanglement in fishing gear, ship strikes, and climate change are all major challenges to a species that was already decimated by targeted hunting by humans last century. I share these images with you each day in hopes that at the very least, their beauty will make you feel something. It was public outcry and a demand for change that saved the great whales from hunting by humans in the 1900s, and I fear a similar referendum by the public may be required in the very near future as we continue as a society on a lifestyle collision course with our most vulnerable wild megafauna. For now, Blue Whales continue to thrive off of California and North America, but that does not mean the work is done. Every day is Endangered Species Day. . . . . #bluewhale #endangeredspecies #videooftheday