Nicole Marie Teutschel at Long Marine Lab in Santa Cruz, CA--Ocean pollution is a problem for marine ecosystems. Run-off of polluted water into the ocean, trash dumping, and oil spills cause immense problems for many birds, mammals and fish. Marine debris threatens species large and small, from sea turtles to plankton, and from whales to sea birds.

Jane Stevens, at UC Santa Cruz Long Marine Lab. For about the next six weeks, a couple of thousand female elephant seals are returning from the far reaches of the North Pacific Ocean to the beaches of Año Nuevo State Reserve. There, they'll give birth to the next generation of pups.