About 12 million tons of plastics enter the oceans every year—the equivalent of a full garbage truck every minute. The total includes millions of grocery bags. But restrictions on the bags appear to be having a positive effect. Several studies have found big reductions in the number of bags found on beaches.
If you thought dating other humans was complicated, wait until you hear about the complex courtship behaviors of wild leopard seals. These apex predators are the second largest Antarctic seal species after southern elephant seals. At 8 to 11 feet long and weighing up to 1,300 pounds, their only natural predators are orcas. These ice-loving pinnipeds are notoriously difficult to study, but a team of researchers led by a Baylor University biologist managed to observe a two-hour courtship interaction between a male and female in Laguna San Rafael, Chile.
