Marine life & contaminants: What doesn’t kill you might make you weaker
Photo: Dr. Dana Wetzel with whale bones during field research
Marine animals run across many harmful, environmental contaminants. If they survive exposure, are they really "out of the woods," or will their health (and even their offspring's health) change? Mote Marine Laboratory Senior Scientist Dr. Dana Wetzel investigates the presence and impacts of contaminants — including oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico — as one key focus of her Environmental Laboratory for Forensics based at Mote’s Sarasota, Florida, campus. In this episode, hosts Joe and Hayley ask Dr. Wetzel about the questions her lab is working to answer, including the latest steps in long-running research in partnership with Dr. Kevan Main, focusing on oil exposure in fishes.