Rachel Moore was swimming alongside a whale when she decided to bring her camera as close as she could.
What she captured looks like something from another planet: the lens, the pupil, every wrinkle of skin around the eye of the largest animal in the ocean. She herself described it as something profoundly beautiful, unique in her entire career as a wildlife photographer. The image went viral on Instagram with more than 50 thousand reactions.
But the amazement turned into something else when Moore revealed the ending: that same whale later died after being struck by a high-speed vessel. Today, she uses that photo to ask for something simple: that boats respect the speed and space of these marine giants.
