Since it began in earnest in the early 20th century, whaling of the South Atlantic Humpback has brought the magnificent species to near extinction, and caused immeasurable damage to the oceans' ecosystems as a result. But conservation efforts in the years since have paid dividends, and experts now say that the marine mammal's population is recovering well.
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A new report is saying that endangered Humpback whales are rebounding from being nearly extinct.
Whaling in the South Atlantic goes all the way back to the 18th century when the British and French industrialized the practice. And beginning in 1904 it is estimated that 25,000 South Atlantic Humpbacks were captured over just 12 years. That's a little over 2,000 per year, a staggering number.
By 1964 the entire global population of Humpbacks was reduced to just 5,000Humpback was down to 440, and South Atlantic. Causing the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which regulated the whaling industry, to ban the fishing of Humpbacks altogether.
In 1970 the whale was placed on the endangered species list. But it took until 1985 to ban all whaling, by then the world's whale populations were reduced by an estimated 95%, and some species were completely extinct.
The result on the environment included degradation of habitats, and yes, it affected global warming as well. Some experts report that 160k tons of carbon would be removed from the atmosphere per year if whale populations are restored to pre-whaling levels.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that since the ban on whaling, whales have seen quite the comeback. Where the South Atlantic group was nearly gone in the mid-twentieth century a study has found that the population is back to 30% of the pre-whaling strength, with a number something like 25,000 individuals.
NOAA's Alexandre Zerbini told The USA Today that, "This is a clear example that if we do the right thing then the population will recover. I hope it serves as an example that we can do the same thing for other animal populations."
And we don't really know what the ultimate effect of the increase of whale populations yet. There are more studies that need to be done. However, we can be sure that some of the damage that has been done can be reversed and perhaps improved.
We need to remain vigilant, the WSA humpback is nearly off the endangered species list, not fully off of it. Efforts to conserve and rehabilitate populations of the entire species must continue, if not accelerate altogether.
For now, however we can simply enjoy the fact that this amazing animal is actively reviving in its environment and helping make the planet stronger for all of us.
- Humpback whales make stunning comeback in southern Africa ›
- Southwest Atlantic humpback whales on recovery path - BBC News ›
- The Plan to Save the Humpback Whales—and How It Succeeded ›
- Humpback Whale | NOAA Fisheries ›
- How humpback whales made a global comeback - CSMonitor.com ›
- The humpback whale population is recovering ›
A Generation Jones teenager poses in her room.Image via Wikmedia Commons
An office kitchen.via 
An angry man eating spaghetti.via 
At least it wasn't Bubbles. 
You just know there's a person named Whiskey out there getting a kick out of this. 
An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
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Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.