Critically endangered for over a century, there are today approximately 2,200 blue wales alive and doing just swimmingly from Mexico to Alaska, reports the Los Angeles Times. This exciting aquatic conservation news comes via the journal, Marine Mammal Science. The whales’ number is 97 percent as large as it was prior to 1905, when detailed data on the species was first closely documented.

Whaling became illegal in 1971 largely because the whale population was rapidly decreasing by the human practice of catching and killing them. The Huffington Post reported that in 1930 there were only 750 blue wales left.

Meanwhile, about a dozen or so blue wales continue to be killed by collisions with ships on the Western Coast, and their numbers have leveled off.

The University of Washington released a statement from the researchers, “The recovery of California blue whales from whaling demonstrates the ability of blue whale populations to rebuild under careful management and conservation measures,”said Cole Monnahan, a UW doctoral student in quantitative ecology and resource management and lead author of a paper on the subject posted online Sept. 5 by Branch and André Punt, a UW professor of aquatic and fisheries sciences, are co-authors.

Adult blue whales can reach a length of close to 100ft and weigh up to 190 tons, which is twice as much as the largest known dinosaur and any mammal alive today.

The Tech times said the new research and analysis shows California blues ability to make a return from the brink of extinction is hopeful for other endangered whale species as well.