I spent months tracing the lives of river monsters—catfish older than my parents, sturgeon that survived empires, stingrays as wide as my bed. I wrote about their extinction, their resilience, their ancient beauty. I tried to sound like I understood what it meant to lose something that big. But the truth is, I felt smaller every time I hit submit. Conservation reports, grant proposals, outreach emails—each one a reminder that I was just another voice in the flood. I watched the numbers drop: fish populations, funding, my own motivation. Sometimes I’d stare at a photo of a giant stingray and wonder if anyone would care when the last one was gone. Or if I would. I used to think the data would save them. Now I’m not sure it can even save me. #Science #ScienceFatigue #ConservationBurnout