
Coho salmon spawn in freshwater, strike off for the open seas, trek again to the place of their delivery – however researchers seen that over time, some would die earlier than they might spawn.
Arctic-Pictures/Getty Pictures
disguise caption
toggle caption
Arctic-Pictures/Getty Pictures
Coho salmon spawn in freshwater, strike off for the open seas, trek again to the place of their delivery – however researchers seen that over time, some would die earlier than they might spawn.
Arctic-Pictures/Getty Pictures
For many years, Coho salmon had been turning up useless in city streams the Pacific Northwest. The salmon would cease swimming straight, after which die earlier than they’d an opportunity to spawn. Researchers apprehensive that until they found out the trigger, the species would ultimately go extinct. Enter a formidable crew of biologists, modelers, group scientists, environmental chemists. After ultimately ruling out the plain suspects — issues like temperature, oxygen ranges and identified toxins — researchers ultimately zeroed in on a major suspect: chemical substances in tires. However the query remained: Which one?
When you appreciated this episode, try our different episodes on satellites monitoring emissions and the way air pollution could create superbugs.
Wish to hear extra environmental tales or science mysteries? Inform us by emailing shortwave@npr.org!
Hearken to Brief Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Hear to each episode of Brief Wave sponsor-free and assist our work at NPR by signing up for Brief Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
This episode was produced by Jessica Yung and edited by our showrunner Rebecca Ramirez. It was fact-checked by Tyler Jones and Kwesi Lee was the audio engineer.