SANDY HOOK, N.J. – In a room lit by a few red bulbs, dozens of black sea bass approach the glass of a massive tank, their protruding eyes watching two scientists who stare back at them.
t's February, but the fish are acting as though it's May. The males, larger and darker, dart at one another, protecting harems of females that hover near the sandy bottom. Researchers have manipulated temperature and light to shorten the weeks and change the season so the 60 fish inside will reproduce, yielding eggs the scientists will use to examine how climate change affects the species.
But if President Obama's federal budget is approved as written, the fish will be gazing into a Maryland laboratory, and the scientists will have to decide whether to go with them. The 50-year-old laboratory is expected to shut down.
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