Part of it is just visibility. You can't miss a whale if you're near one. If you live on the coasts you would probably miss them if they were gone, in the sen

Part of it is just visibility. You can't miss a whale if you're near one. If you live on the coasts you would probably miss them if they were gone, in the sense that you'd tell your grandkids about them. But an endangered species of butterfly that, to non-entomologists, is indistinguishable from more common species is really going to be difficult to get people excited about.