How We Saved the Whales (With Pop Music)

Just 50 years ago, whales were on the verge of extinction. And nobody really cared. Then the music industry came to the rescue.

Everybody loves whales. These majestic marine mammals adorn our trapper keepers as much as they adorn our hearts. Whales are not only the largest vertebrates on the planet, they are some of the smartest, most socially complex organisms in the animal kingdom. And I don’t know about you but I’d definitely think twice about using them to fuel my lamps or feeding them to my cats.

But it wasn’t always that way.

For a long time, whales were thought of as — at best — diabolical sea monsters capable of sinking ships and biting the legs off of their fanatical captains, and — at worst — they were just big floating sacks of lamp oil or cat food.

But at some point, our opinion of these animals changed and everybody wanted to save the whales.

I mean, there’re plenty of endangered animals on this planet but sea turtles and white rhinos don’t have slogans as popular and ubiquitous as “Save the Whales”.

And we can thank the music industry for that.

But first let’s sing the praises of all the wonderful commodities a mighty whale…