Humpback whales are marine mammals who wander around the oceans of the world in long migrations. In fact, they do the longest migrations of any other known mammal on Earth. In 1988, these beautiful animals had to face the severe consequences of overhunting, which led to them being included on the list of endangered species.

Today, thanks to efforts made at an international level, we’ve managed to save the number of whales that are still alive. Prohibiting whale hunting was key to this success. The measure is still in place today. Eileen Sobeck, a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) qualified this as a “real story of ecological success.” She was, in fact, the person who proposed to take the humpback whale off the list of endangered species after witnessing its spectacular recovery.