Panamanian Golden Frog

There's something poignant about a final wave goodbye. We've all experienced them -- perhaps holding back the tears at the airport or bus station, or seeing someone off as they slip away in a hospital bed. The heartbreak is tempered with fond memories, yet those same fond memories can intensify the heartbreak. Conversely, we hear of the demise of various species often now, yet for most of us, it falls into a part of our mind relegated for things that are either not relevant to us, or to that area in our brain where we store thoughts we don't know how to deal with, or that we decide are not our problem. There's no heartbreak, no tears, no wave goodbye. We're detached, separate, unfeeling. Today the BBC ran an article on the Panamanian Golden Frog (technically it's a toad, but let's not split hairs). Below is an amazing piece of footage of the final wave goodbye (literally and figuratively) of a beautiful creature few ever came to know.

The whole species is now extinct in Panama - this was one of the last remaining populations. Its final wave was in our programme. -- BBC

Further Reading:

• Us & Them
• Planet Earth - a Place Worth Saving