I just wanted to say that your blog brings me so much joy! I often see a funky fish/aquatic life post on here and just nod my head in agreement or just feel joy about the beauty of all creatures and it's almost always a post reblogged/posted by you! Even animals that I would've considered 'scary' before... now I just look at the worms etc and feel excitement (because your passion is contagious), thanks! <3

This is such a nice thing to say, thank you thank you very much!! I’m glad that the enthusiasm sticks because it really is just so fun to discover new creatures and learn about them! :D I used to have many more “prejudices” against undesirable organisms when I was a teen, but I’ve been slowly unlearning them and tried to replace them with curiosity instead, just thinking about how insane it is that all these creatures exist and that they exist the way they do and behave the way they do and how their experiences are so different from ours yet we all came from the very same origins. It’s working quite nicely! The world is so full of interesting and surprising creatures and there’s always so much to find and discover and wonder about!!! Nature is a beautiful cocktail of millions of years of evolution with billions of organisms to unearth (sometimes literally)!!

Not to go on a tangent (I will) but I think being in an environment where no creature is too unsightly or somehow horrible for being alive but is instead interesting and valued really aids in that. I was always a fish-and-arthropods-loving girl, but in my time at my uni I’ve learned to appreciate many more organisms a whole lot more thanks to passionate lecturers and fellow classmates! I never knew I’d come to love and appreciate parasites, for example, but one of my professors is so passionate about aquatic parasites specifically that it was just way too contagious! Sharing passion is the best ever and I won’t stop any time soon >:DD