Points of Progress: Humpback whale populations rebound, and more

Western South Atlantic

The population, estimated to have once been 27,000 whales, dropped to 450 whales in the 1950s. Protections in the 1960s and a moratorium on commercial whaling in the 1980s have helped the population to recover to 90% of its pre-whaling levels. The current estimates were obtained through modeling techniques combined with air- and ship-based surveys. This particular species of humpback