http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/arts/design/that-cute-whale-you-clicked-on-its-doomed.html 2016-09-15 00:43:16 That Cute Whale You Clicked On? It’s Doomed Adorable animal photos on Instagram are the new way to spread the dire message of climate change. === I was scrolling through Then I read the caption. “A newborn harp seal hides behind a piece of sea ice and seeks shelter during a blizzard,” it said. I came to Instagram to get a quick baby animal fix and left with a horrifying message about how Paul Nicklen, the wildlife photographer who took the image, knows what he’s doing. “I hang a cute animal picture out there like bait and reel them in,” he told me. I’m hooked. Intellectually, I understand that climate change is one of the most important issues facing our planet. But practically, I ignore it. The problem feels too big, and the science too boring. I’ve never found a convenient time to watch “An Inconvenient Truth.” I haven’t paged through a copy of National Geographic in my adult life. I’m part of the problem. But now, a crew of wildlife photographers and conservationists has found a way to reach me through one of social media’s shallowest pleasures: ogling marine mammals on Instagram. “Climate change is so huge, so uncomfortable, and so overwhelming, it’s hard to talk about it,” Mr. Nicklen said. “And often the best scientists are the worst communicators.” Mr. Nicklen, a marine biologist as well as a photographer, is not personally drawn to the cutesy stuff. But after posting a picture two years ago of a Following wildlife Instagram means experiencing emotional whiplash. The savviest photographers work to achieve a careful balance between the superficial and the political. Jasper Doest, a Dutch wildlife photographer and conservationist, recently took a Keeping the Instagram audience clicking into a wildlife photographer’s feed means serving up different kinds of images from those that appear in National Geographic. One of Brian Skerry’s most celebrated photographs shows a dead thresher shark caught in a fishing net off the Mexican coast; National Geographic has named it one of the magazine’s 50 greatest photographs of all time. But when Mr. Skerry, a longtime National Geographic photojournalist, These casual internet surfers might be tempted to scroll past conservation public service announcements (preachy) or scientific tracts (boring). But Instagram’s freewheeling platform has opened a trap door into environmental awareness. When Mr. Skerry posted a And while Instagram lacks the fact-checking safeguards of more traditional scientific sources, it engenders a sincere, authentic experience. “Because of the intimate nature of these posts, viewers come to trust the photographers,” said Joel Sartore, a National Geographic photographer who has dedicated his career ( The comments in wildlife photographers’ feeds have spontaneously turned into de facto public forums on climate-change science. Under a recent photograph of a polar bear that died of starvation, posted by Mr. Nicklen, an argument unfurled among sentimental animal lovers (“Can the governments do something? Drop fish, meat, anything to give these animals strength?”); radical vegans (it’s “meat and dairy eaters … Who claim to be animal lovers ... Who are contributing to this”); and climate change deniers (“You people do realize that we are coming out of an ice age.”) Last year, Mr. Nicklen and the photographer Cristina Mittermeier began SeaLegacy, a nonprofit that “bridges the gap between information and emotion” by pairing photographers with activist organizations. Instagram’s conservationists are hoping their images will inspire fans to do more than just look. That will test the limits of human nature, not to mention the constraints of the platform. Instagram is built for passing out eye candy. The captions are afterthoughts. When I scroll through my feed, it feels so good to tap and share an image that I don’t even think to feel bad for skipping over some critical context. Animals may be dying in the Arctic, but on Instagram, I can always find a newborn seal pup to share. The pictures are so freaking cute — who among us is strong enough to stop staring at the phone and start taking action?