Cassandra R. Moritz

Gamer, author, blogger, geek | She/her | randomgeekchild.com

[herpsandbirds]

Crab Plover (Dromas ardeola), family Dromadidae, order Charadriiformes, Gujarat, India

photographs: Dakshesh B. Ashra & Nalsarovar Latif Alvani

[echinoderm-of-the-day]

Culcita schmideliana

Image source: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/61281172

[stealingpotatoes]

commission for @commodorez!

(pet commissions are currently closed)

[sometiktoksarevalid]

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

dunno how i got onto this side of the internet but i discovered that there has been a charge put in place on a notorious sea cucumber poacher off the coast of BC.

There was a high speed boat chase involved

They fished this guy's phone out the water in order to get the evidence they needed

he made like a million off nearly 40,000 kgs of sea cucumbers

one million dollars of sea cucumber crime is the name of my new indie band

This has been my day apparently

[galaxstarrbag6969]

My bestie interviewed one of the guys who helped take this down on their podcast. Its called the Nest by the Martlet! They interviewed the world leading expert in sea cucumber crimes!!! It comes out soon. I cant wait!

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

actually that particular leading expert has a socials and has been spreading the news of it online, hence how I got looped in in the first place

[cognitiveinequality]

Good news for fans of Not Poaching the Fuck Out of a Natural Resource! This reoffending jerk is going to jail for a few years:

Notorious B.C. fisherman with ‘longest record of violations in history’ sent to prison

A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has sentenced a notorious fisherman to six years behind bars, ruling the only way to stop the prolifi

“Mr. Steer considers himself unbound by laws,” the judge wrote, sentencing the fisherman to six years in prison and ordering the couple to pay $1,105,718 in fines. “His deliberate deception and illegal fishing shows contempt for the fragile and finite marine resources and ecosystems. He shows contempt for the fishermen who follow the rules. He shows contempt for the laws of Parliament and the orders of the court. He shows contempt for the efforts of past courts to steer him towards an honest path through less severe sanctions that rely on his honesty and compliance.” “Only a very significant step up in incarceration has any hope of effecting rehabilitation, denunciation, and deterrence,” the judge continued. “Only incarceration will prevent him from inflicting further harm on the scarce public resource of the fisheries.”

[ginbenci]

In fact, the court said in its order, Steer was out poaching sea cucumbers during breaks from his trial for poaching sea cucumbers. This apparently came to light after a customer complained that some of the 4,496 pounds of sea cucumbers Steer sold him while on trial for sea-cucumber poaching were “slimy and smelled bad.” Steer texted back blaming the truck driver and offering a discount. “What’s those Cukes worth?” he wrote, appallingly, and said that if they could reach an agreement he had another “80,000 lbs left” to sell. This evidence, the court suggested, “undermine[d] Mr. Steer’s claim” at trial that he had “turned [over] a new leaf” and was no longer poaching.

Given this record, it’s surprising that the sentence was only six years. Apparently “post-offence misconduct” could not be considered aggravating factors directly adding to the sentence, but the court did find it relevant to whether Steer would likely comply with an order short of imprisonment (answer: no), and “indicated the unlikelihood of remorse or rehabilitation, now or in future.” Also relevant: the scale and sophistication of his operation; his “consistent subterfuge, use of proxies, and stealth,” aliases and shell companies; and evidence that Steer “fully recognized and even exulted in the criminality of his actions,” as the court found “encapsulated in his text message” to a crony reading “it’s all illegal lol.”

- as summarized by the wonderful Kevin Underhill at Lowering the Bar :

Sea-Cucumber Abuser to Be “Moved Far From the Sea for a Long Period of Time”

[ever-floral]

i have chosen to summon Haiku Bot because he is very cute

plz reblog me 😭

[the-haiku-bot]

i have chosen to

summon Haiku Bot because

he is very cute

Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.

[stealingpotatoes]

commission for @blackcat2907!

((human/humanoid) commissions re-opening tomorrow!)

[stealingpotatoes]

commission for @kijiboop!

(pet commissions are currently closed)

[herpsandbirds]

Golden-throated Barbet (Psilopogon franklinii), family Megalaimidae, order Passeriformes, India

photograph by Kedar Potnis

[stealingpotatoes]

happy earth day!! feat. earth's most popular bird

[stealingpotatoes]

GOD DEFEND AOTEAROA 🗣️🎉🎉🎉

[michaelnordeman]

European robin/rödhake. Värmland, Sweden (19 April 2020).

[herpsandbirds]

Please can I request any of your favourite creatures from Victoria, Australia? Gotta get some home representation on my dash ❤️

I think I can manage that...

Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus), L - male and R - female, family Maluridae, VIC, Australia

photograph by benjamint444 

Burton’s Legless Lizard (Lialis burtonis), family Pygopodidae, big Desert, VIC, Australia

photograph by Matt Clancy Wildlife Photography

Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus), family Psittaculidae, order Psittaciformes, VIC, Australia

photograph by Greg Wisnia

Swamp Skink (𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪), family Scincidae, Mornington Peninsula, VIC, Australia

ENDANGERED.

photograph by Matt 

Red-tailed Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii), L - female, R - male, family Cacatuidae, order Psittaciformes, VIC, Australia

photograph by Adam Phillips (500px)

Lowland Copperhead (Austrelaps superbus), family Elapidae, VIC, Australia

Venomous.

photograph by Rob Valentic

Turquoise Parrot (Neophema pulchella), male, family Psittaculidae, order Psittaciformes, VIC, Australia

photograph by Darren Stephens

Eastern Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus vittatus), male, family Diplodactylidae, VIC, Australia

photograph by Matt from Melbourne

[herpsandbirds]

Do you have a favorite binomial name?

There are a lot of latin names that I like that are musical, like Xylocopa tabaniformes, or fun and repetitive, like Gorilla gorilla gorilla, but I would have to say that my favorite is...

Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops), family Upupidae, order Bucerotiformes, Portugal

photograph by João Gomes

[herpsandbirds]

Yellow-fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes flavifrons), male, family Picidae, order Piciformes, Brazil

photograph by Steve Sanchez

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

a demonic entity comes up to me on the sidewalk and begins cursing me in tongues. I assume they are a tourist and politely provide directions to the nearest bus stop

[borkwolf]

[michaelnordeman]

Eurasian three-toed woodpecker/tretåig hackspett. Murstensdalen nature reserve in Västmanland, Sweden (17 April 2025).

[humoristics]

The ocean molded this clump of bricks into a rock shape

via

[pochowek]

real life texture glitch

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

Domesticated rock has returned to the wild and become feral

[the-haiku-bot]

Domesticated

rock has returned to the wild

and become feral

Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.