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Defector


<p>charismatic megafauna (they/them)</p>


Sabrina Imbler

A round stingray (Urolophus halleri) I photographed in shallow water at Bolsa Chica wetlands (Southern California). The clouds of sand around the eyes and and body were formed as the stingray flapped and positioned deeper in the sand, expelling water. You can see the spiracles behind the eyes.

Creaturefector

A Brief Investigation Into Whether Charlotte The Pregnant Ray Is Scamming Us All

Whale swimming underwater in ocean close up.

Whales Are Singers Too, Billie Eilish

an illustration by Ray Troll depicting a gigantic spike-toothed salmon overpowering a fisherman

Meet The Extremely Metal Spike-Toothed Salmon

a brown pacific field cricket with a whitish parasitoid fly sitting on top of it

In Hawaii, Crickets Are Learning New Songs Of Sex And Death

a tiny gall midge pollinating a tiny orchid

The Secret Life Of A Tiny Flower

several of Toshiko Takaezu's moon-shaped ceramics on black sand

Arts And Culture

The Forbidden Worlds Of Toshiko Takaezu

Kate Schapira sits at her climate anxiety booth in a public park in Providence, Rhode Island

Interviews

What Do We Do With Our Climate Anxiety?

a snakefly on a plant (Dichrostigma flavipes on Corylus avellana)

It’s Time For God’s Ugliest Little Bugs To Be Represented In The Beautiful Tradition Of Haiku

Two coral snakes in a tug-of-war over a worm lizard called a caecilian

Point/Counterpoint: That’s My Lunch!

A fossilized piece of amber preserving two termites in the act of mating

If Romeo And Juliet Were Ancient Termites They Wood Look Like This

a silhouette of a semi truck in front of a starry sky

Science

Vibrations From “Interstellar Meteor” Actually From Local Truck; Or, Fact-Checking The Celebrity Scientist

A Brunneria borealis mantid hanging upside down from a twig of wheat (is that how you say it)

She’s Literally Mother

A saltwater fish called a cero looking concerned

This Parasite Has Become A Full-Time Booger

a deep-sea Malacosarcus sp., or prickelfish. Seen at a depth of nearly 5,900 meters (3.7 miles)

The Twilight Chorus That Can Be Heard 18,000 Feet Under The Sea

a Kakapo named Sirocco exhibited at the Orokonui Ecosanctuary in Dunedin, New Zealand

Honey, They Yassified A Kākāpō!

Two adult male humpback whales. one whale has its penis inserted into the genital opening of the whale below it An injury is visible on the mandible of the whale underneath.

Fleeting Joy, Unexpected Despair, And Eventual Peace; Or, The Time I Learned About Two Gay Humpback Whales

An image of Flaco in his chain-link exhibit at the Central Park Zoo

Birdfector

What Do We Owe Zoo Animals?

a female ant-mimicking spider Myrmarachne formicaria

Everybody Wants To Be An Ant

A horrible AI-generated image of a rat with an enormous cock and balls

The Brief And Wondrous Life Of The AI Giant-Penised Rat, Explained

Charlotte The Ray Did NOT Have Sex With A Shark, So Stop Asking!

Kelsey McKinney

Barry Petchesky

Patrick Redford

David Roth

Whale stranded at Winterton, 1857. 'This fine specimen of the whale tribe was driven ashore at Winterton by the gales which visited the coast of Norfolk...When the whale found himself upon land he roared loudly, and he struggled most lustily to regain the deep...The colour of the outer coat is dark brown on the back, vanishing off towards the body of a bluish grey. The body is white; also about two feet of the nose and baleen is white; the rest of the outer part is black. We understand that the skin, head, and tail were removed from the carcase for exhibition. The whale is stated to weigh about 25 tons'. From &quot;Illustrated London News&quot;, 1857.