I Found New Species. I Still Felt Lost

Forty days at sea, cataloguing life no one’s ever seen. The data is supposed to feel like a triumph. I’m supposed to feel like a scientist. But all I remember is the silence after the samples were boxed, the hum of the ROV, the exhaustion that never left. I kept thinking: does any of this matter if I’m too tired to care? Everyone talks about discovery. No one talks about the cost. I logged every new species, but not the nights I stared at the ceiling, wondering if I’d ever feel like I belonged on this ship, in this field, in my own skin. #Science #ScienceFatigue #ImposterInTheRoom