As you may have noticed , I didn’t keep up with my ‘slowed down schedule’. 
I guess slowing down wasn’t the solution 
After more than five years, saying goodbye to the blog is somewhat hard . But it is time.
Listening to the last episode of ‘she explores’ made me realise that publicly putting a stop to it may be the better way to go about it. The blog will still be here with all of its content , in all of its evolution .  
But Gale put it really well - listen here - tending to a media outlet (whether a blog, a podcast, a page ..) is like tending to a garden . It needs constant attention, careful watering , weeding , land re working. Constant being the keyword. And now I lost the flow.
The evolution has halted.
Although evolution never really halts, it just maybe accelerated so much that is ready to take on a whole new face. 
I still believe 100% in everything that I wrote in this blog , I am still in for the real protection and conservation of nature , I am still fully aware that a lot of efforts are fake and guided by greenwashing. Actually . I find it so hard to find non greenwashing - based initiatives. But don’t worry , it’s not ‘depression about the fate of the world’ keeping me away from the blog . Neither, as we established already, a move to a capitalistic and consumeristic state of mind. More. Is the need to do something more active rather than write about things . Maybe , even , do something more active and hands on than doing ‘research’ or at least doing something active and hand on alongside my research path. 
Education. Nature immersive experiences. Learning to reconnect and invite others to reconnect. Learning to live in a different way. And then teaching and inviting others to do the same. Nothing preventing me from coming back here in the future , but is not something I want to promise, myself or you readers (provided I didn’t lose already all of you after this extended break). Maybe there will be a book (or a couple of , my mind is as usual full of ideas), maybe there will be a different page (who knows, a proper site or an educative YouTube page?) , maybe there will be just me and the ocean . As of now , I am not sure what the future holds , but keep following me on my other media pages to find out . For now, hope the past content can spark something in you , and the will to protect, conserve and respect nature (which in my definition includes also other human beings). 

In 2018 wrote my first (optimistic) post about World Ocean day , 

it ended like this

"now people (us) can play an even bigger part. Consumer choice is so important, and although companies can manipulate it I believe we can also manipulate companies. Buy loose rather than packaged, leave packages at the tills (you can join organised plastic actions, such as those that recently happened in the Netherlands), chose brands with sustainable and recyclable packaging (check recycling info on the back of packages) even if it takes a little extra time and maybe costs a few extra cents. 
I believe that by making some small adjustments and consumed more consciously we have the power to create a shift in the market and encourage companies to continue on their ethical tracks.."
​
As I said.. optimistic 

Lately on the news the "rudder-attacking-orcas" have gathered some fame.
I have been following the situation for a few months now, as it's actually something that has been going on since 2020. It's scary, especially if you are planning to take to the high seas. But you know what's scarier? 

Today I want to bring something different to the table and show you some underwater images

So much for keeping up with the writing every two weeks, uh
Well, things have been a little bit hectic this month; Two papers back from reviews, some lectures, some marshy fieldwork to plan, some oysters to look after, some papers to review ...
Then I read something thought provoking : 

Social media, eh!?
That endless scrolling we all seem so addicted to 
That targeting of advertising
The 'bubble' of interests we seem to get caught in  and can spiral to create social divides (I mentioned before how if i look at my social accounts it seems like everyone wants to save the planet, whereas in reality climate change deniers and people that prefer profits over ethic still exist in abundance).

That is what social media seem to have become, despite (maybe) some good intentions to begin with

So, what if it in some sense it is being used wisely?  

​Recently i found myself grinding some freeze dried oyster samples. ‘Just a regular day at the office if you are an experimental ecologist / biologist’. But what if you are a nearly entirely vegetarian for ethical reasons, and are promoting rewinding, restoration and the reconsideration of the human figure in the world as something that is ‘within’ nature rather than ‘above it’ or anyway ‘other’ ?

Just in case you were wondering whether I have gone completely crazy just by reading the title, i'd like to reassure you, this is just a regular question popping more and more frequently in my head.. 

Here we are. 
The carbon topic striking again. 
I guess for those of you following me, it didnt' quite come as a surprise given the recent media attention that carbon credits have gotten, and NOT for a right way. 
I already wrote a few posts in the past, around why maybe we should thread more carefully on the topic..