David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
@whysharksmatter.bsky.social
94K followers 1.5K following 110K posts
I am a marine conservation biologist studying sharks and a science writer. Posts are about science and the environment, science communication, and more! He/him
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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
coralcitycamera.bsky.social
Hee hee haw haw, what’s so funny miss parrotfish?? 🤭🦜🐟 #redtailparrotfish #parrotfish #parrotfishjungle #parrotfishcapitaloftheworld #smile #livelaughlove #goofball #buckteeth #coralcitycamera #miami #portmiami #miamibeach #biscaynebay #coralcity
Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
cms.int
📢 OUT TODAY! 🚨

CMS published the most comprehensive global dugong assessment in 20+ years. Dugongs are vulnerable to extinction worldwide, some populations critically endangered. 🌊

We must map & protect seagrass, cut bycatch, restore habitats, and roll out action plans: www.cms.int/news/global-...
Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
drandrewthaler.bsky.social
This, more than anything I've seen, really goes a long way to explaining why so many of these dudes think ChatGPT is conscious.
sharonk.bsky.social
thiel, man, what the fuck are you talking about

He describes the plot of Watchmen, a 1986 graphic novel involving superheroes grappling with moral questions about humanity against the backdrop of impending nuclear war:

The antihero Ozymandias, the antichrist-type figure, is sort of an early-modern person. He believes this will be a timeless and eternal solution – eternal world peace. Moore is sort of a late-modern. In early modernity, you have ideal solutions, ‘perfect’ solutions to calculus. In late modernity, things are sort of probabilistic. And at some point, he asks Dr Manhattan whether the world government is going to last. And he says that ‘nothing lasts forever.’ So you embrace the antichrist and it still doesn’t work.

Thiel later finds biblical meaning in the manga One Piece, discussing how he believes it represents a future where an antichrist-like one-world government has repressed science. He believes that the hero, Monkey D Luffy, represents a Christlike figure.

In One Piece, you are set in a fantasy world, again sort of an alternate earth, but it’s 800 years into the reign of this one-world state. Which, as the story unfolds, gradually gets darker and darker. You sort of realize, in my interpretation, who runs the world and it’s something like the antichrist. There’s Luffy, a pirate who wears a red straw hat, sort of like Christ’s crown of thorns. And then towards the end of the story, transforms into a figure who resembles Christ in Revelation.

Thiel, along with a researcher and writer at Thiel Capital, explored these ideas at greater length in an essay for the religious journal First Things earlier this month.
Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
biodiversitypix.bsky.social
🧠 Report on the zoological collections made in the Indo-Pacific Ocean during the voyage of H.M.S. 'Alert' 1881-2.
London: Printed by order of the Trustees, 1884.

[Source]
Illustration from an 1884 report on zoological collections in the Indo-Pacific by H.M.S. "Alert," showing detailed, labeled pencil sketches of three crab species: Euxanthus tuberculosus (A), Hypoecius punctatus (B), and Banareia inconspicua (C). The drawing highlights the crabs’ carapaces, claws, and leg structures with close-up views of their distinctive textures and anatomical features, such as tubercles and spines. The image reflects 19th-century scientific documentation methods linked to Darwinian natural history and species classification during exploratory voyages.
Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
katieocean.bsky.social
#fisheries and #marineinvert alert
mondomascots.bsky.social
Kani Bucho, an office boss with an entire crab for a head, is the mascot for Yokobiki, a company that makes metal roller shutters for store windows.
A mascot in a blue suit with a red crab for a head enters a building.
Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
austsocfishbiol.bsky.social
📑 #NewStudy by Nguyen et al. surveyed the predators of a problematic sea urchin. One fish munched many more urchins than any other species.

👀 doi.org/10.3354/meps...
whysharksmatter.bsky.social
Race, Indigenous knowledge, and a relational alternative in fisheries policy research
buff.ly
Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
conradhackett.bsky.social
Here more than 5,000 people answered the question below (more than 4,200 via quote replies & >800 comments). Lots of interesting stories!

On X, 15 people replied to the same query.
conradhackett.bsky.social
Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?
whysharksmatter.bsky.social
Operational interaction and bycatch of seabirds and marine mammals in the artisanal gillnet fishery in southern Chile
buff.ly
whysharksmatter.bsky.social
Reproductive timing and spawning dynamics of European barracuda Sphyraena sphyraena in eastern Mediterranean Sea
buff.ly
Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
jopabinia.bsky.social
I'm on the BBC talking about (how we won't be) evolving into crabs 🧪🦀

Also features Matt Wills (my academic older brother) and Ned Suesat-Williams (of the crab museum!). Unfortunately they were in London and I on zoom, so there was no time to tell Ned to join here
BBC Audio | The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry | To Crab, or Not to Crab?
Hannah and Dara investigate why nature has evolved the humble crabs so many times.
www.bbc.com
whysharksmatter.bsky.social
Preliminary assessment of the ecological sustainability of a data-limited small-scale shark fishery in India conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
mantatrust.bsky.social
🚨 BREAKING: All oceanic devil rays are now Critically Endangered.

🤝 Be part of our #SaveTheMantas campaign:
✔️ Sign the petition: only.one/act/cites-2025
✔️ Grab a campaign T-shirt, snap a photo, and share it on our campaign page: mantatrust.org/save-the-mantas
whysharksmatter.bsky.social
The new Indiana Jones video game is so good
Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
davelevitan.bsky.social
“We can give $20 billion to Argentina but we can’t afford the CDC’s measles experts” is a hell of an argument
Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
fieseler.bsky.social
Want some good news?

Vineyard Wind, the 1st large-scale wind farm approved in America, has been under construction for years. A broken blade incident in 2024 set progress back.

Now about half of its 62 turbines are sending power to the Massachusetts grid! 🔌

newbedfordlight.org/vineyard-win...
Vineyard Wind reaches 50% power production - The New Bedford Light
The offshore wind farm is sending power from at least 30 turbines to the Massachusetts grid.
newbedfordlight.org
Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈
drandrewthaler.bsky.social
The Halloween Humboldt Squid has arrived! The only way to get these stickers is to join my Patreon. Help support open science and get some jaunty ocean stickers.

These stickers will go out Monday, October 20th, so sign up before then!

patreon.com/Andrew_Thaler
Three stickers featuring a Humboldt Squid with an orange hat.