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Animals living in coastal waters can face a number of environmental stressors. This may be the case for marine life in the Gulf of Mexico which experiences both oil spills and the presence of toxic algae blooms. Marine sentinels, like bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico, are similar to the proverbial "canary in the coal mine." Studying bottlenose dolphins may alert us humans to the presence of chemical pollutants, pathogens, and toxins from algae (simple ocean plants) that may be in Gulf waters. [Source: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science]
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