By sniffing out scented compounds—one chemical in particular, dimethyl sulfide, or DMS, generated when krill devour phytoplankton. Over the past two decades, Nevitt has parsed the impressive ability of seabirds to detect tiny amounts of the chemical. To our noses, DMS is that sulfury, briny smell of the seashore or oysters on the half shell. To seabirds, it’s the scent of sustenance. “Birds tend to be attracted not to prey scents per se,” she says, “but rather to odors such as DMS that are released during feeding interactions”—a euphemistic term for the ravaging of prey by predators. In other
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