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Tuesday, November 09, 2010

It's tough being a Whale in a Human World

Whales Suffering From Sunburn : Discovery News: "Painful sunburns are usually associated with people, but many whales are now acutely sunburned, with cases escalating in recent years, according to new research.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, is the first to demonstrate that sun damage to whale skin is on the rise and is likely tied to increasing levels of ultraviolet radiation resulting from the thinning ozone layer.

'The thing is, whales do not have hair, fur or feathers that could offer some protection, and they are forced to surface in order to breathe,' co-author Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse told Discovery News.

'Other animals have behavioral adaptations -- hiding in the shade, for example -- but whales cannot afford to do so,' added Acevedo-Whitehouse, a postdoctoral fellow at the Zoological Society of London."

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