A population of shrimp suddenly starts collapsing. A biologist believes that toxins in the food chain are interfering with larvae development. A climate scientist believes that a change in water temperature is depleting food sources from the water. Why are both of these options valid scientific hypotheses?

Scientists with different educational backgrounds can come to different interpretations of the same data. No educated guess can be considered a valid hypothesis since hypotheses are made before data collection. Scientific debate is always continuing and the scientific community never discards a hypothesis. Both scientists underwent the same training and, therefore, have equally valid scientific hypotheses.