Stories resonate with us for a variety of reasons — some you may not expect. Here are the ones that stand out for us this year. Read the reasons and send us your thoughts on your top or bottom picks, too.
From Mary Landers, environment reporter
One day in December a source tipped me off about a right whale disentanglement underway off the coast of Cumberland Island. Having reported on these highly endangered, school-bus sized animals for nearly two decades, I knew we had a dramatic story. I called the DNR and they put me in touch with the lead of the disentanglement team, Jessica Thompson. She reached me late that week after she had been on the water for two days straight, and she patiently walked me through the exhausting, exhilarating and sometimes terrifying process of trying to cut hundreds of feet of heavy rope off an uncooperative animal far bigger than their vessel…