Darling It's Better Down Where It's Wetter

Living the dream as an Aquarist for a public aquarium in Florida. I get paid to take care of sea creatures every day and honestly can't believe this is my life. I ❤️🐠.

[fluffygif]

So cute! Yes or No?

[inthemidstofbuddie]

@inkwingart i canNOT

[inkwingart]

HE IS SUCH A CLEVER LITTLE LAD

[sea-nerd-adventures]

Hurricane prep means everything, I mean EVERYTHING is tied down or stored away! So glad these sea turtles are living their best lives and going on kayaking adventures despite the storm 😝🌊🛶

[sea-nerd-adventures]

KRAKEN UPDATE

(a couple years/another octo later)

Not even the skies are safe from this little sea monster!

If it’s near the water, octo-bot will stop at nothing on her quest for tasty nomz, even if that means the destruction of her own home 😆

[ampervadasz]

[they-call-me-nita]

Turn the sound on, the only thing better than this dog’s joy is that people stopped what they were doing to share his joy, and you can hear them all groan when the water dies down….

[sea-nerd-adventures]

On this week’s task list of the ‘Other duties as assigned’ job description for an aquarist:

Professional Coral Photograper

I actually had a lot of fun getting some updated coral photos for our social media coordinator. It’s always so striking and beautiful to me that corals are living, moving animals despite the fact that they look very plant-like (rearranging corals in our habitats makes me feel like a gardener 😆)

We havveeeeeee to cut back on our carbon footprint and stop polluting the hell out of the planet if we want coral reefs to look like this out in the ocean!

[sea-nerd-adventures]

Hey, can y’all keep a secret??

Yesterday was our little Pokey-man’s 35th ‘birthday’/hatch day and I forgot to post about it so all you tumblr folk could join in on the shell-ebrations. He’s such a special little dude and we are lucky to know the exact date he hatched (because he was in a head start program and hatched in human care, but was unable to be released due to an arthritis-like joint disease) so I make a big about it every year with birthday banners, lots of back scratches, and even birthday cards from our kid’s camp.

BUT I fell asleep like a grandma yesterday so if y’all could plz not tell him that I duck and simply wish Pokey a happy [belated] birthday instead that would be gr8 😆🎁🎉🐢💕

[profeminist]

“National Geographic called me and asked me to write the feminist facts about how The Lion King gets lion pride dynamics all wrong. I happily complied. Lions are matrilineal!! 

When I contacted Craig Packer, one of the world’s leading lion researchers, to talk  about this story he was IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE. He Skyped me almost instantly from a camp in Kenya and said he’s been waiting for someone to ask him this question since the original film came out.

Anyway, if The Lion King were real, Nala would be the star, Sarabi would be holding her up saying everything the light touches is our kingdom, Simba would have left and never come back, and when Nala got old enough Sarabi would have carved out a territory for her to rule.”

- Erin Biba‏ 

In real life, Simba’s mom would be running the pride

[profeminist]

UPDATE:

“Reasons men gave for lecturing me on lion pride social structure and telling me one of the world’s leading lion researchers is wrong (I am not kidding these are real): -Watched The Lion King DVD extras -Read a textbook 25 years ago -Has been to the zoo -Everyone just knows

If you ever wondered what it’s like to be a woman that communicates science, this is what it’s like. Any expertise you or your sources may have gained over decades of hard work are null and void because someone watched a DVD extra 25 years ago.”

-  Erin Biba 

[elodieunderglass]

Hey that last one is a Mood

[bbcwhereareyou]

So typical. 🙄

I’m also laughing hard at that guy in Kenya dropping everything immediately to talk about how wrong the Lion King is.

[sea-nerd-adventures]

Making new friends is easy.....

Until they invade your space, crawl all over your feet, and won’t leave you alone to work! 🦀😆

[insomniac-arrest]

it’s getting weird knowing natural apocalypse from climate change is bearing down on us all and still going about mundane daily life kinda like

[zookeeperproblems]

Keepers when we casually bring up the magnitude of climate change in a normal setting

[sea-nerd-adventures]

Throw on the issues like marine debris, habitat loss, unsustainable fisheries, and the palm oil crisis and this me 100000%

[sdzoo]

We take gorilla birthdays very seriously. Also, Joanne is now ~5~

[silverhawk]

the fact that moray eels have a pharyngeal jaw that they can just…..move from the back of their throat is pretty fucking awesome but also terrifying. moray eels are filed under “sea creatures who i respect from a distance and that distance being on land from behind my computer screen”

[silverhawk]

crab: ah fuck im in a bit of a conundrum, maybe if i wiggle i can-

moray eels pharyngeal jaw: no

[sea-nerd-adventures]

1. yes, that extra set of jaws is WHACK

2. they are supes powerful and

3. no, you probs shouldn’t stick your hand in random crevices in the ocean (or otherwise)

4. but

5. i work with a moray eel and

6. he’s the derpiest little weirdo ever

7. i love him so much

[sea-nerd-adventures]

Some octopus spam I’ve had on the back burner for a bit. I love this little mini wannabe -kraken!

[markscherz]

This is an adult frog. We just published its formal description. It is now officially called Mini mum. 

There are two other members of its genus: Mini scule and Mini ature. 

I am not kidding. Those are their actual names.

You can read a bit more about them here.

Is this how you scicomm?

Photo credit: A. Rakotoarison.

[sea-nerd-adventures]

This makes me so happy

[sea-nerd-adventures]

Perfect little kookaburra friend was v. interested in my phone during a member’s night at my local zoo (maybe it was my bright blue phone case that was so appealing??)

[sea-nerd-adventures]

By far one of my favorite things about this last year has been these sweet lil torts! We built and opened up a habitat for six red-footed tortoises during the summer and they are quickly becoming some of my favorite animals to work with. These ridiculously adorable animals actually belong to my supervisor and used to live at the school where his wife works. When she switched positions, they wanted the tortoises to have a home where they could be around plenty of people-and I have loved every minute of it! FYI: Lots of tortoise spam to come 🐢💕🥰

[sea-nerd-adventures]

Hello again, fellow sea nerds!

...if there are any of you still paying attention since I legitimately haven’t posted in at least a year 😬

It’s been a busy and crazy year with new animals, experiences, gains and losses, lessons learned, and a lot of growth both personally and professionally. There is a lot that I’m looking forward to sharing with y’all, and I’ll try to update somewhat more frequently (when I’m not covered in saltwater or napping from a long day at work 😅)

For now, I’d like you all to meet our new octopus at work. We have had her for a couple months now and she has already established herself as a magnet thief 😈 I’m looking forward to watching her grown and getting to know this feisty lil alien!

[bigcatawareness]

i don't really understand why you would be pro-zoo. like i understand nature reserves and sanctuaries where people can observe from afar, but it doesn't seem right to me when they're locked up in generally small confined areas for people to watch them do nothing all day. idk maybe i'm getting this wrong, and i still really respect you, i just don't understand this. like i interned at a zoo and felt uncomfortable with how small their living areas were and how they had no stimulation

Zoos don’t look like this anymore.

They look like this:

Good zoos do not keep their animals in “tiny spaces” with no enrichment.  I’m not pro-roadside zoo.  I’m pro-accredited zoo.  Zoos are incredibly important for conservation and education.

Are Zoos Necessary?

The Importance of Zoos: Resource Post

Why Zoos and Aquariums Matter: Assessing the Impact of a Visit to a Zoo or Aquarium

Why I Want to be a Keeper

Why I Believe in Zoos

[useless-zoofacts]

There should be way more pictures of modern zoos so i just add some more

[merp-a-derp69-deactivated201808]

Seriously zoos do so much important conservation work as well I hate when people shit all over zoos as if the animals are locked up and not looked after

[nyxetoile]

The SF Zoo has two sea lions. Now, if you know SF, you know that sea lions are a Thing. They’re all over Pier 39 and various other beaches in N California. In fact, the zoo is near the ocean, so there are sea lions not 200 yards from the zoo entrance. So having sea lions in the zoo seems sort of superfluous.

Except the sea lions are blind. One was found as an adult after suffering a gun shot wound to the face that destroyed his eyes. The other was found as an adolescent, weak and starving because it had been blinded and unable to hunt. So they were rescued and introduced and the zoo built them a nice pool where they can swim and sunbathe and people toss them fish. It’s not the biggest exhibit, or the fanciest. But it’s a home for them, where they’re safe and well fed. Sea lions aren’t the most romantic of animals, but they’re a part of SF culture and a lot of us have a soft spot for the loud, bulbous things. And because of zoos, these two get to live long, happy lives.

Whenever anyone complains about zoos, I think about Silent Knight and Henry. 

[zoogeek327]

I think it’s St. Louis zoo that is saving big cats in Africa. Scientists couldn’t figure out what was killing off the local lion population. They were dying off from Canine Distemper. The local unvaccinated dogs of the towns would spread the disease to other animals or have it themselves. When the lions ate the infected animals they would catch it as well. You know what that Zoo is doing to stop this disease? They are going over to those towns and vaccinating the dogs for free. The community loves it and people from other villages comes for miles to get their dogs vaccinated as well.

They also do work with camel populations because the local human population use the camels for food sources the zoos help monitor the camels health.

Another zoo, I want to say it’s the Oregon zoo but don’t quote me on that, is helping female inmates. The zoo works with the female prisons by encouraging the inmates to assist in the breeding and raising of endangered species of butterflies. They plant the specific plants that the butterflies and catapillars need, raise them, and release them. These inmates get noted in any scientific journals that get published. They are giving these inmates a sense of accomplishment and validation.

Zoos not only save species but bring together and assist communities in an effort to save the environment. Zoos, good zoos, are essential to the future and I will fight anyone who tries to say otherwise.

PS you don’t see PETA doing any of this.

[averagewhiteshark]

Yep, that’s the Oregon Zoo! They also participate in local conservation projects such as the recovery of the California condor through captive breeding and wild release, and hand rearing and releasing of western pond turtles, both of which are threatened species in the wild.