Dolphins Are Exhaling Microplastics
New research highlights how extensive plastic pollution is—and how nonhuman species, including dolphins, are exposed......»»
Study: Female dolphins have a working clitoris, so they probably enjoy sex
"Every time we looked at the vaginas, it was like this giant clitoris staring us in the face." Enlarge / Sure, they look like they're just taking a friendly swim, but these two dolphins are actually aroused. A recent study found that f.....»»
Microplastic pollution linger in rivers for years before entering oceans
Microplastics can deposit and linger within riverbeds for as long as seven years before washing into the ocean, a new study has found......»»
Dolphin females have working clitoris, anatomical evidence suggests
Like humans, female dolphins have a functional clitoris, according to a study appearing January 10 in the journal Current Biology. The findings are based on the discovery that the clitoris-like structure positioned in the vaginal entrance of bottleno.....»»
Microplastics are widespread in soils of tropical areas
Microplastics (MPs) refer to plastic particles.....»»
No Mountain High Enough: Study Finds Plastic in "Clean" Air
From Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench, microplastics are everywhere -- even high in the Earth's troposphere where wind speeds allow them to travel vast distances, a new study has found. From a report: Microplastics are tiny fragments -- measuring.....»»
No mountain high enough: Study finds plastic in "clean" air
From Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench, microplastics are everywhere—even high in the Earth's troposphere where wind speeds allow them to travel vast distances, a study showed Tuesday......»»
Plant-based component could boost bacterial production of biodegradable plastic
Given that less than 10 percent of synthetic plastics are recycled, the petroleum-derived, non-biodegradable materials continue to accumulate across the planet, covering stretches of land and the ocean floor. Microplastics have been found 29,000 feet.....»»
Microplastics Cause Damage To Human Cells, Study Shows
Microplastics cause damage to human cells in the laboratory at the levels known to be eaten by people via their food, a study has found. From a report: The harm included cell death and allergic reactions and the research is the first to show this hap.....»»
How do dolphins learn to live along the coast?
Ocean-dwelling dolphins have repeatedly adapted to life in coastal areas throughout history......»»
Risso"s dolphins found to use spin move to dive deep for prey
A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in the Netherlands and one in the U.S. has found that Risso's dolphins use a special type of spin move to conserve energy and oxygen when they dive deep for prey. In their paper published in.....»»
Tracking down microplastics in Antarctica
Microplastics are everywhere, even in the most remote places. Where do these tiny pieces of plastic come from? Researchers from the University of Basel and the Alfred-Wegener Institute have shown that it takes precise analysis to answer this question.....»»
Bottlenose dolphins contain mysteries. She"s trying to get answers
Rain flecked the fiberglass boat and the still green waters as professor Shannon Gowans pushed off from Dock 6. Her students noted in pencil the particulars of time and weather: Not ideal, perhaps, for a Saturday on the bay, but what they sought was.....»»
Big-city coastal whales consume millions of microplastics every day
Whales in New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf consume about three million microplastics per day, a new study has found......»»
Microplastics aren"t just a problem for the ocean, they"re in our soils too
One of the environmental legacies of COVID-19 may well be vast amounts of plastic pollution. Since the beginning of the pandemic, scientists have warned of the long-term threat of littering face masks and other PPE into the environment......»»
Rainfall causes microplastic transport into the atmosphere
Oceans, lakes and rivers often contain a large number of microplastic particles on their surface. Impacting raindrops cause many droplets with an almost equally high concentration of microplastics to be thrown up into the air. When they evaporate in.....»»
Are scientists contaminating their own samples with microfibers?
More than 70% of microplastics found in samples from oceans and rivers could come from the scientists collecting them......»»
Wind and ocean currents may contribute to mass dolphin strandings
The area around Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is a hot spot for mass stranding events, in which 50–100 dolphins and other cetaceans routinely beach themselves. Although scientists aren't sure of the strandings' cause, various culprits have been proposed.....»»
Into the "plastisphere": Scientists comb Japan waters to study new eco threat
A boat's crew casts a net into the seemingly clean waters off Japan's Izu peninsula, but not to catch fish—they are scooping up microplastics to learn more about the pollution's impact on marine life......»»
Microplastics may be cooling—and heating—Earth’s climate
Tiny bits of plastic swirling in the sky could be subtly affecting the climate. Enlarge / Thought climate change was already complicated? Now scientists have to consider the influence of tiny bits of atmospheric plastic. (credit: Sank.....»»
How a deadly land fungus began killing marine mammals in the Salish Sea
In the early 2000s, a fungus infected hundreds of animals and people in British Columbia and Washington State. Scientists found that the disease also killed porpoises and dolphins in the Salish Sea—perhaps affecting cetaceans even earlier than peop.....»»