Viruses in the Ocean

Tens of millions of different kinds of viruses might be lurking in the oceans.  They are incredible small (as many as 10 million viruses can be found in a millilitre of water)

 

This may not be as dangerous as it sounds as not every virus infects every living thing, and some animals actually prey on viruses (which removes virus from the environment).

It seems that viruses are most common in marine environments, but very little is known about which creatures eat them. Some research has been done and it seems that sponges are the champions at eating viruses as in a scientific test they ate 98% of the viruses available in 24 hours. In second place were crabs, eating 90% in 24 hours. Thank you sponges and crabs for keeping the viruses out of our way.

 

Read the original article at: https://www.sciencealert.com/marine-creatures-protect-us-from-viruses-in-the-ocean-by-eating-them-study-suggests

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on google
Google+
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on pinterest
Pinterest
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *