A cuttlefish swims on seagrass. Cuttlefish can change the color and texture of their bodies.

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A cuttlefish swims on seagrass. Cuttlefish can change the color and texture of their bodies.

cinoby/Getty Images

As a kid, Sabrina Imbler loved the ocean. They’d swim and snorkel, following around parrotfish in the water. Later, they tried to learn everything they could about these brightly colored tropical fish, like how they produce a mucus bubble to sleep in or how they help keep coral reefs healthy.

In learning these details, Imbler felt like they got a glimpse into what parrotfish do when they weren’t following the fish around the ocean, and how creatures help shape the environment around them.

“I was like… I’m a fish person now,” they said. “These are the creatures that I love.”

Now, Imbler is a writer at Defector, where they often write about the ocean. In 2022, they released a collection of essays called How Far The Light Reaches: A Life In Ten Sea Creatures. Each chapter focuses on a different marine species – from feral goldfish to yeti crabs near hydrothermal vents in the deep sea to the morphing abilities of cuttlefish. Often, these creatures act as a mirror for Imbler to explore parts of their own identity.

“Understanding…how they live and move throughout the world, I think it would always sort of make me turn those questions on myself and think about myself as an organism,” they said. “Like someone who is just as interested in survival and adaptation as any of the creatures that I was writing about.”

Want more on the wonders of the deep sea? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

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Today’s episode was produced and fact-checked by Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Berly McCoy. Kwesi Lee was the audio engineer.