Witches finger grapes are custom made grapes that have a shape of their own. They are from the Californian breeding program International Fruit Genetics (IFG). Although it sounds like it could be GMO, it’s not - they are made through the hybridisation process of taking pollen from one plant and brushing it onto another plant. There are quite a number of these varieties now, in different colours as well. What's really interesting is that IFG also has a few other unusual varieties such as ‘cotton candy’, which when ripe acquires the taste of cotton candy – it’s very unusual, but also delicious. ...

Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), the largest animals on Earth, were nearly hunted to extinction in the last century. But now, the population of California blue whales is almost as high as it was in the early 1900s - a recovery that should be celebrated as a conservation success story!