Water Lice for Marine Researcher
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When you illustrate for biologists, you sometimes get requests for species you never imagined could exist. For example, the time Pauli wrote to me and said, “I need you to illustrate two species of water lice to make a little picture frame for my boss,” it was the first time the idea that marine animals could have lice crossed my mind! I mean, what?
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But of course, if there are mammals in the sea, there are lice in the sea! And they are so important that at the Marine Biology Institute of Puerto Madryn (IBIOMAR) there is a group called GEPPA that studies the ecophysiology and parasitology of Antarctic pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, etc.). And that includes, in fact, water lice.
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That’s how I embarked myself on the task of researching these strange little creatures so I could create this painting. Since we were far away from each other, I couldn’t see Pauli’s samples directly, so we exchanged photos taken under stereoscopic magnifying glasses and microscopes. Pauli corrected the details until they looked as real as possible.
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When we had the final illustration, she printed it and gave it to her boss, who was delighted and has now the little picture frame in her office 🙂
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