In "considerable pain," a determined humpback whale tracked by researchers for more than a decade, recently finished swimming more than 3,000 miles from Canada to Hawaii – all with a broken spine. Moon, a lone humpback whale, traveled from British Columbia to Maui with a severe spinal injury from a vessel strike, according to a post the nonprofit research group BC Whales shared on Facebook. The whale was spotted in waters near the Hawaiian island Dec. 1. She was immediately identified because of her contorted body which researchers said is due to it being struck by a vessel. "This is the stark reality of a vessel strike, and it speaks to the extended suffering that whales can endure afterwards," BC Whales posted on Facebook. "It also speaks to their instinct and culture: the lengths whales will go to follow patterns of behavior." Read the full story at the link in our bio.