The past few years have seen astounding discoveries from sophisticated research on acidification in Puget Sound and the oceans.
By Craig Welch
February 27th, 2012
FRIDAY HARBOR, San Juan Island —
To understand the bizarre ways changes in ocean chemistry may affect Northwest sea life, there may be no simpler creature to start with than mussels.
When scientists in a Friday Harbor laboratory exposed mussels to slightly acidic marine water, they found the tiny fibers the shellfish use to cling to rocks stayed as strong as ever.
But when the water warmed, those fibers, called byssal threads, became less adhesive — and that could prove deadly.