Cetacean Ops divisions were on famous Starfleet ships in the Star Trek universe. The concept of Cetacean Ops ... and the show's scenic art supervisor, Michael Okuda, who later co-authored the ...

and the ship grew in popularity. Of course, Star Trek fanfiction was nothing new when DS9 premiered in 1993. In fact, the Star Trek fandom pretty much invented the modern concept of fanfic.