• Question: cud underwater creature dies if the water was really really unclean (not including getting trapped in litter etc).....

    Asked by emily72 to Jo, Kevin, Louise, Valeria on 20 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Kevin Mahon

      Kevin Mahon answered on 20 Jun 2012:

      Depends on the species – I’ve sampled some worms and crustaceans that survived (and even thrived) in incredibly polluted waters – many of these animals are opportunists and can survive extreme circumstances. By in large however, filthy water is bad for underwater creatures and has resulted in many species dying and also several mutations.

      Unclean water has toxins and other bad chemicals as well as being devoid of nutrients which mean plants can’t grow and entire ecosystems are thrown off.

    • Photo: Valeria Senigaglia

      Valeria Senigaglia answered on 20 Jun 2012:

      It depends on the species and types of pollution. What appears to us to be filthy may also be very concentrated plankton and this would mean tons of food available!

    • Photo: Joanna Cruden

      Joanna Cruden answered on 22 Jun 2012:

      while we keep animals in extremely clean conditions it is surprising what they can tolerate in the wild

Comments