Hi all, I am starting a passion-based advocacy campaign to spread the word about the USA's endemic whale that is CRITICALLY endangered. The Rice's whale is a 40-foot long giant whale that almost exclusively lives in U.S. waters (in the Gulf of Mexico, on the side that is within American maritime borders.) It's honestly crazy that the U.S. has a whole whale species that they can call their own. It's a privilege that no other country has. Unfortunately, no other country has ever, in all of human history, made a giant whale go extinct. But the U.S. might be the first one. The Rice's whale is so endangered that there are only about 50 of them left, and yet there are nearly no laws designed to protect it at all. There have been efforts to help them and stop the increase in oil drilling and shipping activities in their habitat but the lack of protective legislation makes that impossible. These whales are at the brink of vanishing, are a crucial part of the multi-billion dollar Gulf ecosystem, and yet most people haven't even heard of them. That's why I wanted to make a change, and I've created a petition as a way of growing the awareness. It really is "awareness" that's needed, since no one can fight for a whale that they've never even heard of. Here is a link to my petition. It would mean so much to me if you took just a few seconds to sign it, and share it with people.