The Conversation

The mushroom cloud's silver lining: how the Cold War is helping the biggest fish in the sea

Author: Mark Meekan, Senior Principal Research Scientist, Australian Institute of Marine Science

United States Department of Defense/Wikimedia

It might surprise you to learn that nuclear bomb tests during the Cold War are now helping conserve whale sharks, the largest living fish.

Growing up to 18 metres – longer than the average bus – whale sharks live in all tropical oceans. In Australia, they are found off tropical coasts in the...

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