Earlier this summer, we switched funding models from an ad hoc Paypal-based donation system to Patreon, a crowdfunding style service for authors, musicians, writers, and, thanks to us, scientists. Thanks to our wonderful Patrons, Southern Fried Science is, for the first time in history, financially sustainable.

We’re still growing. As many of you witnessed during the last Shark Week, our servers are spinning at full capacity and our bandwidth is consistently maxed out. We need to upgrade to a bigger, dedicated server. That costs money.

Southern Fried Science is, and always will be, free and ad free. With the exception of the rare Amazon affiliate links that appears if we mention specific products, we don’t post ads. There are no awkward pitches for weight loss supplements; no pop-ups encouraging enticing you to check your car insurance; no dehumanizing images of Walmart shoppers. Just pure, safe, wholesome marine science and conservation.

We need your help. Southern Fried Science in on track to clear 2 million unique views this year. That is a tremendous accomplishment for a humble marine science blog. But it’s also a substantial financial burden. Our writers are all volunteers. Our tech support is all volunteer. Our legal team offers their consultation pro-bono. This beautiful new design was a labor of love. Uncompensated love.

We want to keep this site running, producing quality content, and supporting new, exciting projects. And I would like to be able to reward the incredible writers who make this site possible. Patreon has provided us an outlet to solicit that support. Through Patreon you can subscribe to Southern Fried Science, providing a small (or large) monthly contribution. Patrons will gain access to extra content and several delightful rewards.

So go, check out my Patreon page, and, if you can, consider contributing a few dollars a month to keep us running.

All of us at Southern Fried Science thank you.