Rebecca R Helm
@rebeccarhelm.bsky.social
Just a bunch of crabs in a trench coat, but also a professional marine biologist. My social media is separate from, and does not represent, my employer. Please bring croissants 🥐
https://linktr.ee/rebeccarhelm
https://linktr.ee/rebeccarhelm
There's something that feels a bit dead about the world right now, but tens of thousands of people just came together to help us solve a 100 year old mystery about a little blue jelly, and I find that heartbreakingly hopeful:
November 10, 2025 at 11:52 PM
There's something that feels a bit dead about the world right now, but tens of thousands of people just came together to help us solve a 100 year old mystery about a little blue jelly, and I find that heartbreakingly hopeful:
Happy Friday afternoon folks. Here be some leaf sheep wishing you a lovely day 🌊
October 10, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Happy Friday afternoon folks. Here be some leaf sheep wishing you a lovely day 🌊
October 9, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Many sea stars begin life as young fairy-like creature (called a brachiolaria) that float through the open ocean. Eventually, a small star forms within them (here in yellow). The fairy-like brachiolaria sinks under the star’s weight, and the star pops out!
🎥@the_story_of_a_biologist (on Insta)
🎥@the_story_of_a_biologist (on Insta)
October 9, 2025 at 4:24 AM
Many sea stars begin life as young fairy-like creature (called a brachiolaria) that float through the open ocean. Eventually, a small star forms within them (here in yellow). The fairy-like brachiolaria sinks under the star’s weight, and the star pops out!
🎥@the_story_of_a_biologist (on Insta)
🎥@the_story_of_a_biologist (on Insta)
With the rise of AI, social media as we know it is about to die. As a Very Online Person (*sigh*), I see this as part of a larger swing. In the last decade, for better and worse, commentators have gained popular trust. Now, all those random accounts are completely untrustworthy. What do we do? [1/n]
October 8, 2025 at 9:55 PM
With the rise of AI, social media as we know it is about to die. As a Very Online Person (*sigh*), I see this as part of a larger swing. In the last decade, for better and worse, commentators have gained popular trust. Now, all those random accounts are completely untrustworthy. What do we do? [1/n]
Is this what you were looking for?
September 24, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Is this what you were looking for?
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
Sea ice is fucking phenomenal
(📸 by me over Greenland in 2023)
(📸 by me over Greenland in 2023)
September 22, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Sea ice is fucking phenomenal
(📸 by me over Greenland in 2023)
(📸 by me over Greenland in 2023)
Me: *checks news*
Me, 20 minutes later: *transforms into tiny crab, floats way on jellyfish*
Me, 20 minutes later: *transforms into tiny crab, floats way on jellyfish*
September 20, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Me: *checks news*
Me, 20 minutes later: *transforms into tiny crab, floats way on jellyfish*
Me, 20 minutes later: *transforms into tiny crab, floats way on jellyfish*
“Who me? As a tripod fish, I deal with stress and fear by transforming into an eyeless abyssal predatory elder god. What about you?”
🎥 Huge thanks to @frida.yolotzin for letting me use the baby tripod fish video, and @schmidtocean for permission to share the adult video.
🎥 Huge thanks to @frida.yolotzin for letting me use the baby tripod fish video, and @schmidtocean for permission to share the adult video.
September 18, 2025 at 2:59 PM
“Who me? As a tripod fish, I deal with stress and fear by transforming into an eyeless abyssal predatory elder god. What about you?”
🎥 Huge thanks to @frida.yolotzin for letting me use the baby tripod fish video, and @schmidtocean for permission to share the adult video.
🎥 Huge thanks to @frida.yolotzin for letting me use the baby tripod fish video, and @schmidtocean for permission to share the adult video.
Feels like the world is burning so time for weird jellyfish facts 🧵
September 13, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Feels like the world is burning so time for weird jellyfish facts 🧵
Oarfish with dingleberries. The fish above is sans dingleberries. Thus a ribbonfish (likely some kind of dealfish).
September 6, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Oarfish with dingleberries. The fish above is sans dingleberries. Thus a ribbonfish (likely some kind of dealfish).
I have, despite my better judgment, returned to Instagram, where people are now violently arguing about exactly what fish species this is.
This is the kind of anger I want to see on the internet 💙
This is the kind of anger I want to see on the internet 💙
September 6, 2025 at 7:16 PM
I have, despite my better judgment, returned to Instagram, where people are now violently arguing about exactly what fish species this is.
This is the kind of anger I want to see on the internet 💙
This is the kind of anger I want to see on the internet 💙
Champions of our planet are working to create an ambitious #PlasticsTreaty here at Geneva's #INC5
Here is a scientific tool that shows where ocean plastic goes when it is released, and where it comes form when it lands on beaches.
None of the below examples are "Accumulation zones"!
Here is a scientific tool that shows where ocean plastic goes when it is released, and where it comes form when it lands on beaches.
None of the below examples are "Accumulation zones"!
August 14, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Champions of our planet are working to create an ambitious #PlasticsTreaty here at Geneva's #INC5
Here is a scientific tool that shows where ocean plastic goes when it is released, and where it comes form when it lands on beaches.
None of the below examples are "Accumulation zones"!
Here is a scientific tool that shows where ocean plastic goes when it is released, and where it comes form when it lands on beaches.
None of the below examples are "Accumulation zones"!
The lost jellyfish art of Ilona Richter, from Anita Brinckmann-Voss's 1970 book on jellyfish of the Mediterranean Sea...
🪼🧪🌿🌊
🪼🧪🌿🌊
August 12, 2025 at 1:25 PM
The lost jellyfish art of Ilona Richter, from Anita Brinckmann-Voss's 1970 book on jellyfish of the Mediterranean Sea...
🪼🧪🌿🌊
🪼🧪🌿🌊
I’m so broken. I saw this and went zoo polar bear, dog, plant, maybe a root? Is it one of those weird parasitic plants with the knobby roots? And then, and only then, did my brain think turtle
July 28, 2025 at 3:31 AM
I’m so broken. I saw this and went zoo polar bear, dog, plant, maybe a root? Is it one of those weird parasitic plants with the knobby roots? And then, and only then, did my brain think turtle
DC black and white squirrels are so neat!
July 23, 2025 at 4:07 AM
DC black and white squirrels are so neat!
I just learned these this elephant-trunked-shaped cells, known as ciliate, put their sexy DNA into a special pocket (called a generative nucleus), and the rest of their DNA in a normal get-shit-done nucleus.
It has functional specialization nuclei.
Respectfully: holy shit 🧵🧪
It has functional specialization nuclei.
Respectfully: holy shit 🧵🧪
July 11, 2025 at 6:30 PM
I just learned these this elephant-trunked-shaped cells, known as ciliate, put their sexy DNA into a special pocket (called a generative nucleus), and the rest of their DNA in a normal get-shit-done nucleus.
It has functional specialization nuclei.
Respectfully: holy shit 🧵🧪
It has functional specialization nuclei.
Respectfully: holy shit 🧵🧪
Ah yes, so true. But also, how to communicate how strange/amazing these critters are to a general audience? I loved the way the authors tackled this:
July 10, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Ah yes, so true. But also, how to communicate how strange/amazing these critters are to a general audience? I loved the way the authors tackled this:
BEHOLD! One of Earth's greatest lineages of life: the lil wiggle arm guys, Meteora.
These single-celled critters, originally found in deep-sea sediments, are SO DIFFERENT from other lifeforms on Earth that they're likely in their own kingdom (as in, the Animal Kingdom, the Plant Kingdom etc). 🧪🌿
These single-celled critters, originally found in deep-sea sediments, are SO DIFFERENT from other lifeforms on Earth that they're likely in their own kingdom (as in, the Animal Kingdom, the Plant Kingdom etc). 🧪🌿
July 10, 2025 at 8:06 PM
BEHOLD! One of Earth's greatest lineages of life: the lil wiggle arm guys, Meteora.
These single-celled critters, originally found in deep-sea sediments, are SO DIFFERENT from other lifeforms on Earth that they're likely in their own kingdom (as in, the Animal Kingdom, the Plant Kingdom etc). 🧪🌿
These single-celled critters, originally found in deep-sea sediments, are SO DIFFERENT from other lifeforms on Earth that they're likely in their own kingdom (as in, the Animal Kingdom, the Plant Kingdom etc). 🧪🌿
@franzanth.bsky.social A friend just sent me this and it made me so happy 🥰
June 27, 2025 at 1:24 AM
@franzanth.bsky.social A friend just sent me this and it made me so happy 🥰
These are all stunning
June 19, 2025 at 12:36 AM
These are all stunning
Y’all I just saw a huge rainbow booped the US Capitol building
June 19, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Y’all I just saw a huge rainbow booped the US Capitol building
HOW ARE THESE LIVING THINGS?!?!
June 18, 2025 at 6:34 PM
HOW ARE THESE LIVING THINGS?!?!