These terms govern the use of The GL Pod. They are written to be read rather than skimmed past, because terms nobody understands protect nobody, and a document written only to be defensible tends to leave both sides guessing. Using the site means accepting what follows, so the sections below try to state each point in the fewest words that still say it accurately.
The essential points can be stated briefly. This is an educational reference compiled from published sources. Its figures are approximate. Nothing here is safety guidance for dealing with wild animals, and nothing here is professional advice of any kind. The sections below set out those limits and the rest of the arrangement in full.
Acceptance and scope
These terms apply to everyone who reads or otherwise uses this site, whether or not they read this page first. They cover the species profiles, comparisons, guides, editorial pages and the artwork published alongside them. If any part of these terms is unacceptable to you, the appropriate response is not to use the site, and no part of it requires an agreement beyond that. Nothing here asks for a signature or an account.
The terms may be revised as the site changes or as the law requires, and the revision date at the foot of the page reflects the current version. Continued use after a revision means the updated terms apply. Material changes will be described on the page rather than made quietly, and the privacy and cookie policies stand alongside these terms as separate documents governing their own subjects.
The nature of this content
This site is an educational reference. Every profile is compiled from published scientific and government sources: conservation assessments, fisheries and wildlife agency accounts, museum and research institution material, and specialist reference databases. No original field research is conducted here, no specimens are held, and no studies are run. The site is not a peer-reviewed publication and does not present itself as one.
It is best used as a starting point that leads somewhere better. Each profile lists what was consulted for it, and readers working on academic, professional or regulatory questions should go to those sources directly rather than citing a compiled reference. Citing a public source is not a partnership, sponsorship or endorsement, and no institution named on this site has reviewed or approved its content.
Not safety guidance
Nothing on this site is guidance for approaching, feeding, handling, provoking, swimming with, diving near or otherwise interacting with any wild animal. Descriptions of hunting behavior, temperament, speed or habitat are explanatory accounts of published research, not indications of how an animal will behave in any real encounter or of what any person can safely do. Wild animals are unpredictable, and the difference between a description and a situation is enormous.
Anyone who works, dives, boats, fishes or swims where these animals live should rely on qualified local training, government advisories and licensed professionals. Reports of stranded, injured or entangled animals belong with the relevant wildlife authority immediately. This site cannot help in that moment and should not be consulted instead of the people who can.
Accuracy and its limits
The material here is compiled carefully and checked against the sources cited, but it is offered without any guarantee of accuracy, completeness or currency. All figures are approximate. Measurements of wild animals vary with sex, age, population, season and condition, and the methods used to obtain them vary as well, which is why measurements appear as ranges with notes rather than as single definitive numbers.
Sources are revised. A conservation assessment can be updated, an accepted maximum can shift when a well-documented specimen is measured, and a lifespan estimate can change entirely when a new dating technique replaces an old one. A page reflects the sources as understood at its stated review date. Errors reported to the editors are verified and corrected under the published corrections policy.
Acceptable use
The site is available for personal, educational and research reading. Quoting a passage with attribution, sharing a link to a profile or comparison, and using the material in classroom work are all welcome and require no permission. What is not permitted is conduct that interferes with the site's availability or misrepresents what it says.
In particular, the content must not be republished wholesale as if it were someone else's work, presented in a way that suggests endorsement or affiliation that does not exist, or altered so that a figure or a conservation status is misattributed to this site or to any institution cited here. Misstating a species' status can cause real harm, and accuracy in reuse matters as much as accuracy in publication.
Not permitted
- Automated bulk copying that burdens the site or reproduces the catalog elsewhere
- Attempting to gain unauthorized access, disrupt availability or interfere with other readers
- Republishing profiles or artwork wholesale without permission
- Presenting the material in a way that implies endorsement, affiliation or partnership
- Altering figures, notes or conservation statuses while attributing them to this site
Intellectual property
The written material on this site, including profiles, comparisons, guides and editorial pages, together with the illustrations and the arrangement of the catalog, is protected by copyright and remains the property of The GL Pod unless stated otherwise. Short quotations with clear attribution and a link to the page quoted are permitted. Reproducing whole pages, substantial portions of the catalog or the illustrations requires permission.
Underlying facts are a different matter. Measurements, conservation statuses and biological findings originate with the institutions that published them and belong to no one here. Anyone is free to use those facts, and the better practice is to cite the original assessment or agency account rather than this site. Requests to reuse text or artwork go to [email protected].
About the illustrations
The artwork throughout the site consists of reference illustrations. These are drawings prepared to show proportion, form and characteristic features, checked against published morphological descriptions from the cited sources. They are not photographs. They do not depict identified individual animals, particular tagged specimens, named study subjects or any documented event, and no image here should be read as a record of something that happened to a specific animal at a specific place.
An illustration is a visual aid, not evidence. It should not be used for species identification in the field, for legal or regulatory purposes, or as a record of what any particular animal looks like. Individual animals vary substantially in coloration, scarring and proportion, and a drawing represents a general impression of a species rather than a specimen.
Links to other sites
Citations link out to conservation assessments, government agencies, museums, research institutions and specialist reference databases. Those links exist so that readers can verify what is stated here against the original source, which is the entire point of publishing citations rather than simply asserting figures. A reference that cannot be checked is worth considerably less than one that can, and the links are maintained with that in mind.
Those sites are operated independently. This site does not control their content, availability, accuracy or privacy practices, and a link is not an endorsement of anything beyond the specific material cited. Once you follow a link, the terms and policies of the receiving site apply, and any dealings with the organizations behind them are strictly between you and them.
Disclaimer and limitation of liability
The site and everything on it are provided on an as-is and as-available basis, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy or non-infringement. No guarantee is given that the site will be uninterrupted, error-free or continuously available.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, The GL Pod and anyone involved in producing it are not liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special or punitive damages, or for any loss arising from reliance on the material published here, from the unavailability of the site, or from the content of any site linked to it. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions of liability, so parts of this section may not apply to you.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the United States and of the state in which the site is operated, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any dispute arising from the site or from these terms is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts competent in that place. Readers outside the United States are welcome, but the site is published for a United States audience and no representation is made about compliance with the law of any other country.
If a provision of these terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full effect and the unenforceable provision is applied to the greatest extent the law allows. A failure to enforce any provision immediately is not a waiver of the right to enforce it later. Together with the privacy and cookie policies, these terms represent the whole of the arrangement between this site and its readers.
Questions about these terms
Questions about these terms, requests for permission to reuse text or illustrations, and notices concerning intellectual property should all be sent to [email protected]. Permission requests are easiest to answer when they describe what is needed and where it will appear, since the answer often depends on both. Requests concerning material that originates with a cited institution are directed to that institution, which holds the rights this site does not.
Reports of factual errors are handled separately from all of the above and are always welcome. The corrections policy explains how to file one, what happens after it arrives, and how a confirmed change is recorded and dated. Factual corrections are treated as the most important mail this site receives, and they are worked through ahead of everything else in the queue.