I am not going to lie, I love everything aquatic. From deep sea invertebrates to obscure alpine fish, there really isn’t anything that doesn’t “spark joy”.
Actually, I lied…
I don’t really like cetaceans, just not my cup of tea.
However, regardless of whether I like them or not, a lot of aquatic life still needs to be protected. Everything in aquatic ecosystems are meshed together in a web of natural processes. Whether they be from freshwater or saltwater, there is an intimate connection that might not be immediately apparent.
Imagine a great cedar tree off of a coastal stream. You wouldn’t imagine that this tree has received nutrients from the sea. But, yes it did. A bear caught a fish and as they had a snack, the carcass was left at the foot of this tree. We can even confirm this with the types of nitrogen found! [1]
Over time, I hope to show you that in order to value aquatic ecosystems, you must also value all aquatic life. The smallest priapulid worm could mean nothing to you, but in the grand scheme of everything they can matter quite a bit.