Doing what comes naturally hurts sealife, SeaDoc study finds
From the SeaDoc Society Newsletter
Puget Sound Partnership just released their new public education effort. Here are four easy things we can all do:
- Use fertilizers and pesticides sparingly, or just use compost.
- Take your car to a commercial car wash and have oil leaks fixed.
- From cleaning products to septic maintenance, be aware of how you care for your home.
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Pick up dog poop, bag it, and place it in the trash (not in the yard waste bin).
Interestingly, SeaDoc science helped shape some of this work. A recent SeaDoc publication showed harbor seals in South Sound could be getting Giardia from dogs, demonstrating the importance of picking up your pet’s poop.
“Many people are familiar with the cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii infecting and killing sea otters; this study suggests that dogs also could transmit their parasites to marine mammals and reminds us that what happens on land is intimately connected to what happens in the ocean.”
The full article may be found at www.seadocsociety.org/node/264
