![]() Researchers have previously found that plastic can not only "suffocate and kill the corals, sponges and other invertebrates," says Pinheiro, but also increase the likelihood of a coral getting a disease by 20 times, according to a 2018 study published in Science. Of particular interest to him: The kinds of plastics covering the reefs and how they were impacting the health of the corals and their fish communities. Pinheiro expanded his research focus beyond fish to the plastics they live with. "It's sad," Pinheiro, currently a researcher with the University of São Paulo, told NPR. ![]() ![]() But while he was down there, he found something else that was deeply troubling: plastic - loads of it smothering the coral reef where the fish were living. Here in Oman, plastic floats past an otherwise healthy reef.įinding new species of fish was the goal when marine biologist Hudson Pinheiro was diving in the Verde Island Passage in the Philippines. Researchers found that plastic debris sits atop almost 92% of the reefs they studied, including some of the most remote and uninhabited ones.
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