"Scientists Are Whale Watching From Space"

"A satellite orbiting Earth has spotted 55 southern right whales hanging out in the shallow waters off Argentina."

"It turns out that these particular whales are quite easy to spot from space, said Peter Fretwell of the British Antarctic Survey. They got the name right whales because they were once considered the "right" whales to hunt. They are large and slow, and they spend a lot of time lolling near the surface of calm ocean waters.

For this reason, their numbers dropped from a pre-whaling population of 55,000-70,000 to just 300 by the 1920s."

Deborah Netburn reports for the Los Angeles Times February 12, 2014.