One year ago today, the world lost an incredible soul. She was known by many names, but to me, she was Sweet Girl. A curious and playful juvenile humpback, she embodied the beauty of interspecies connection. She was calm, gentle, and full of wonder. She sought us out not with fear, but with curiosity. Tragically, her life was cut short when she was struck by a fast-moving vessel, almost certainly a ferry based on AIS data and the veterinarian’s report. She was brutally disfigured and suffered for hours. Even in her final moments, she approached humans, seeking comfort and eye contact as tiger sharks closed in. She drowned soon after. Sweet Girl’s story is not unique. It is estimated that 20,000 whales are killed by ship strikes each year and another 300,000 cetaceans die from entanglement and bycatch. While some humpback populations have nearly recovered since industrial whaling decimated 99 percent of their kind, others, such as those here in Oceania, remain at only about 37 percent of their pre-whaling numbers. Now, for the first time since the industrial whaling era, humans are once again the leading cause of whale deaths through speeding vessels, discarded fishing gear, shark nets, and the depletion of their primary food source, krill. Reports this year from Rarotonga, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Mozambique, and Peru all tell the same story: fewer whales returning to their breeding grounds. Here in Polynesia, despite promises of stricter speed limits and improved monitoring systems, nothing has changed. Two whales have already been seen this season with ship strike wounds. These whales are born here, they return home each year, and it is our duty to protect them. No matter where we are in the world, we can raise our voices for stronger protections — slowing ships, removing shark nets in Australia, enforcing sustainable fishing practices, and calling for a moratorium on krill harvests in the Southern Ocean. Every action matters. Every voice matters. The whales cannot speak for themselves, so we must speak for them. We can do better. We must. Sweet Girl - Humpback Whale - Moorea - French Polynesia - Whale - Swimming with Whales