. >> i'm david schechter in california.os angeles burnt, scientists far out at sea were collecting water samples full of toxic ash and now they want to know how that might impact the health of our fish. that's tonight's "eye on america." >> i'm imtiaz tyab in kyiv, where president zelenskyy has assured the u.s. he wants peace with russia and has even outlined terms to end the war. that's next on the "cbs evening news." ♪ ♪ ain't no way i would be here without tik tok. i got really good at tearing motors apart and putting them back together, and the car still worked. i received so much support for that, and it made me feel like, okay, maybe i can really, really, really do this. (♪♪) my business has tripled in the last year because of me sharing my videos on tiktok. i wouldn't be able to support the families they'll work for me now without tik tok. without the increase in sales. (♪♪) mike had a heart attack a year ago. but he's still.. increase in sales. living in the red. with a very high risk of another attack. with his ris

reporter david schechter introduces us to the researchers leading that work. >> reporter: the scrippstitute of oceanography is where you'll find danish scientist rasmus whalethorp. sounds like a great sea faring name. he was aboard this research ship that only goes out every three months. they were traveling the coast of california collecting plankton samples, the small organisms many larger fish live on, but this trip was anything but ordinary. >> this is something i've never experienced before and i don't know anybody else that has. >> reporter: what they experienced by total coincidence was pulling up to los angeles as fire was burning thousands of homes, incinerating plastic, paint, asbestos, and car batteries and releasing a cloud of toxic ash that settled out over the ocean for 100 miles. crew members put on masks to protect themselves against the smoke, as black ash settled on the ship. while the plankton they collect is supposed to look like this, instead the tiny organisms were swimming in ash. >> all the organisms that live on the seabed certainly will be exposed to this, po