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File: pteropod_comparison_620.jpg

macro photo of tiny ocean snail shells showing a healthy snail shell compared to one damaged by ocean acidification

Image caption

(left) A healthy ocean snail has a transparent shell with smoothly contoured ridges. (right) A shell exposed to more acidic, corrosive waters is cloudy, ragged, and pockmarked with ‘kinks’ and weak spots. Photos courtesy Nina Bednarsek, NOAA PMEL.