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Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️

@aquaticenby.bsky.social

640 followers 650 following 800 posts

Nonbinary by birth (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 Aquatic ecologist by profession 🐟🐠🐡 Kind by choice Fisheries, human impacts, sustainability, all things water Currently studying how environmental stressors affect aquatic-terrestrial linkages in Germany 🇩🇪

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Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · Nov 22

Hi Bluesky, I finally stopped being lazy and switched over to here. If you know me from other social media, then you know what to expect.

If you don't know me, I like to talk about science, water, and share pictures of my natural habitat (lost in the woods).

It's nice to see you all again!

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Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 1d

I just love a pretty otolith

HulloThere @jethroreading32.bsky.social · 1d

Had the absolute pleasure of mounting and sampling some greater argentine (Argentina silus) otoliths today - look how beautiful they are! And so easy to age!

These specimens were dissected at sea around 1AM, after a full-day migraine - gratifying to have them be nice samples!

A really nice otolith (an ear stone taken from a fish) - it has very visible growth rings and is shaped like a sort of wonky leaf.

A greater argentine (Argentina silus) - it is a silvery fish with a slight greenish gold iridescent on the dorsal side. The eyes are HUGE!

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KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 4d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

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Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 5d

So, if you're an ectotherm living in the ocean and can't use the sun to warm yourself, consider just getting really, really big. And remember, fat = insulation. So, no low-fat diets for these guys! See you next week for more info on counter-current exchange!
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A leatherback sea turtle swimming in the open ocean, accompanied by a school of pilot fish. It is large and dark gray. The fish are black and white striped

Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 5d

Tunas, Lamnid sharks (like great whites), and whale sharks all use this method. Tunas especially rely on being extremely fast to catch their prey, so anything to help their speed is a welcome addition. They also use a counter-current exchange mechanism to help with this
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A bluefin tuna, the most expensive fish in the world. It is silvery gray, with a darker dorsal surface and blue fins. There are a series of small yellow fins along the tail that help to provide speed and stability

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Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 5d

Gigantothermy is a method used by some fish (and sea turtles like the leatherback) to keep their body warmer than the surrounding water so they can be more active. It's simple, really. The bigger you are, the longer it takes heat to dissipate from your body. And more insulation = more effective
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A great white shark swimming above a school of fish. Great whites have excellent camouflage: dark on top to blend into the shadows when seen from above, light on bottom to blend into the sunlight when seen from below

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Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 5d

Fish that live in the open ocean all face the problem of water temperatures being cold, sometimes extremely so. This is an even bigger issue if you're a predator trying to chase down prey. So what's a cold-blooded fish to do? Let's talk about 1 solution for #FishOfTheWeek, gigantothermy
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A whale shark swimming in the open ocean. It is a beautiful gray color with a unique pattern of white stripes and dots. The patterns are as unique as human fingerprints!

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Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 7d

Me, an idiot: they made this keyboard with the y and z swapped!

German keyboards are different because they use Z more often than Y. And they have keys for all the letters with umlauts

A picture of a German keyboard with additional keys and swapped y and z, compared to a US keyboard

Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 9d

It's what I'm studying here in Germany and has become a much bigger topic of conversation just since I've been in academia. There's some cool research out of the fish lab at KU (can't remember the name) about prairie streams

Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 9d

Look into aquatic-terrestrial linkages and riparian ecology. Best of both worlds!

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Patrick Reinsborough ❌👑 @giantwhispers.bsky.social · 11d

Bad news from the oceans but even worse news that we have now crossed 7 of 9 planetary boundaries that define the "safe operating space" for our holocene-dependent human civilization.

Call me a dreamer but wouldn't it be nice if our governments felt the need to actually address this? #ClimateSky

World’s oceans fail key health check as acidity crosses critical threshold for marine life

Scientists call for renewed global effort to curb fossil fuels as seven of nine planetary boundaries now transgressed

www.theguardian.com

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Nichole Angell @nicholeangell.bsky.social · 10d

Happy Sunday! For this week’s #SundayFishSketch theme of harvest I decided to go with a fish that reminds me of the harvest season, the Pumpkinseed! 🎃 🐟

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Kristen Behrens, PhD @behrenskristen.bsky.social · 10d

For harvest, the most harvested fish in Michigan is the Lake Whitefish. If you drive through the UP you’ll see lots of signage about places to purchase these guys either fresh or smoked. Unfortunately, they’re currently in decline #SundayFishSketch #SciArtSeptember

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Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 10d

Immediately thought of these guys. No idea why

An image of one of the fireys from the movie The Labyrinth. They are red with floppy ears, bug eyes, and a beaked snout

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 10d

This isn't a mouse🐭.

It's a 'MONITO DEL MONTE' ("little monkey of the mountain") & it's a marsupial that lives in Patagonia at the southern end of South America.

It's also the key to a 50-million year old mystery: why are almost all marsupials in Australia & the Americas?

(📷: José Luis Bartheld)

It looks like a light brown mouse with white belly and dark eyes, slightly ringed like a raccoon with the nose of a possum.
"The monito del monte (Dromiciops gliroides) is an marsupial native to Argentina and Chile that may be more closely related to Australian marsupials than other South American marsupials."
CREDIT: José Luis Bartheld from Valdivia, Chile

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Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 10d

It's a great resource for people who don't have space for compost but still want to reduce their impact

Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 10d

The arboretum at UA has a compost pile you could bring your scraps to and then get composted soil for your garden when you needed it and it's surprising how much of our trash is compostable

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Riley Black 🦕 🏳️‍⚧️ @restingdinoface.bsky.social · 10d

It’s always a little strange when cishet acquaintances ask me to explain transness to them. I try my best to educate and make connections, but it can be so draining. I could give you a deep dive on Godzilla. We could talk music, food, pets. But here I am, in front of you, having to explain I’m real.

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Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 10d

Learning to ID the things to avoid is a great place to start!

Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 10d

At least they're being reused though. I'd like to see a good non-plastic replacement for things like trash bags but don't know if it will ever be feasible

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Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 11d

I also found some cool mushrooms while exploring the fort yesterday!

A group of three white mushrooms with shaggy caps, tipped in brown

Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 11d

Reduce, reuse, recycle, in that order. I try not to get them in the first place by using reusable bags. If I do, they get saved for other uses. And if I end up with too many, I take them somewhere they can be recycled. But I haven't seen a single one yet here in Germany so not anymore perhaps

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Lee = MS squared 🐟🌊🏳️‍⚧️ @aquaticenby.bsky.social · 11d

I wasn't good at plant ID when I started foraging either. It was a great way to continue learning. There are a couple foragers I follow as well that have really helped me with things I struggle with

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Bryan White, MS Bio, MPH 🧬 @crvscience.com · 11d

The Fattening has begun

www.livescience.com/planet-earth...

#Climate #CO2

Amazon rainforest trees are resisting climate change by getting fatter from CO2 in the atmosphere

Tree trunks in the Amazon are getting 3.3% thicker every decade as the plants absorb extra carbon dioxide, suggesting they are more resilient to global warming than previously thought.

www.livescience.com

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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 11d

We've launched a new report at Erin In The Morning: The Lavender Ledger, your strategic LGBTQ+ reader, covering the stories that we passed on because someone else covered it better than us.

Here is our first one!

The Lavender Ledger: Your Strategic LGBTQ+ Reader By Erin In The Morning

Our new service for the week to cover the news we did not carry but do not want you to miss.

www.erininthemorning.com

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Stephne Tate @ MFF @quailtea.bsky.social · 11d

Some friends 🐟

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