Many decades of legal and illegal whaling diminished whale populations all over the world, and it’s not often that we get to share a conservation success story like this one: Humpback whale populations have recovered to up to 90% of pre-whaling numbers in Australian waters. Conservation policies worked. Scientists even evaluated the case for taking the humpback whale off the threatened species list. They’re not sure yet if that should happen, but one thing is for sure: the Australian humpback whale is back.