We’ve brought this group of vulnerable marine species together to mark World Ocean Day. The focus is on habitat loss and overfishing, and the need to protect and create safe areas in which rare creatures may recover and perhaps thrive once again. There is precedent. The largest animal on the planet, the blue whale, was hurtling towards extinction at the hands of harpooners until a ban on hunting came into effect in 1966. From just a few hundred individuals at their lowest ebb, there are more than 2,000 blue whales alive today.
In pictures: Marine species on the brink
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