The Ocean and Fukushima

Yesterday I swam joyfully in the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla. I enjoyed the colorful fish and the forest of kelp and seaweed.

I wondered what will happen to the beautiful Pacific Ocean as Fukushima radiation disperses.

People have been dumping chemicals, sludge, and radioactive debris in the ocean for decades and now the oceans are in “shocking decline” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13796479

The Irish Sea is particularly contaminated from radiation, causing higher leukemia rates in children in close proximity to it http://www.llrc.org/health/subtopic/child_leuk_wales.htm

I’ve read that lost Soviet/Russian nuclear submarines are emitting as well, and no doubt American ones are also. http://www.lostsubs.com/Soviet.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_K-431

What will be the added effects of Fukushima? Here are some links and headlines to consider:

See map of Fukushima radiation contamination at Woods Hole oceanographic institute

https://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=67796&tid=441&cid=156993&ct=61&article=103169

In May, Harvey Wasserman reported that Fukushima could be an unmitigated disaster for the oceans: Is Fukushima Now Ten Chernobyls Into the Sea? Tue May 24, 2011 at 08:31 PM http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/24/979021/-Is-Fukushima-Now-Ten-Chernobyls-Into-the-Sea

On May 26, Greenpeace criticized Japan’s inadequate radiation monitoring of “serious marine contamination” http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/press/releases/Greenpeace-Fukushima-radiation-research-reveals-serious-marine-contamination/

Tokyo, Japan, 26 May 2011 – Greenpeace today slammed the Japanese authorities’ continued inadequate response to the Fukushima nuclear crisis, after new data from its radiation monitoring showed seaweed radiation levels 50 times higher than official limits, raising serious concerns about continued long-term risks to people and the environment from contaminated seawater. In contrast, Japanese authorities claim that radioactivity is being dispersed or diluted (1) and are undertaking only limited marine radiation monitoring.


“Our data show that significant amounts of contamination continue to spread over great distances from the Fukushima nuclear plant”, said Jan Vande Putte, Greenpeace Radiation Expert. “Despite what the authorities are claiming, radioactive hazards are not decreasing through dilution or dispersion of materials, but the radioactivity is instead accumulating in marine life. The concentration of radioactive iodine we found in seaweed is particularly concerning, as it tells us how far contamination is spreading along the coast, and because several species of seaweed are widely eaten in Japan.

MOST RECENTLY, CHINA HAS REPORTED RADIATION CONTAMINATION IN THEIR SEAS FROM FUKUSHIMA

China Detects Radiation In Ocean at 10 to 300 Times Normal Levels From Fukushima Nuclear Accident Sun Jul 31, 2011 at 03:23 PM http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/31/1001231/-China-Detects-Radiation-In-Ocean-at-10-to-300-Times-Normal-Levels-From-Fukushima-Nuclear-Accident

Thanks to Mo Hong'e , editor of XinHuanet English Language News, reports Pacific waters off Japan's Fukushima clearly affected by nuclear crisis: China's oceanic administration, we learn:

“Initial tests of samples collected from these areas show that radioactive cesium-137 and -134, as well as strontium-90 can be found in all water samples, the statement said

The statement said that under normal conditions, cesium-134 cannot be detected in sea waters, and that the maximum amounts of cesium-137 and strontium-90 detected in the samples are 300 times and 10 times, respectively, of the amounts of natural background radiation in China's territorial waters, the statement said….”

AND THIS RADIATION IS ALSO HEADING WEST, AND IS EXPECTED TO REACH CALIFORNIA IN 1 TO 2 YEARS http://blogs.forbes.com/jeffmcmahon/2011/05/17/scientists-will-use-fukushima-radiation-to-study-ocean-currents/

FINALLY, the water in the basements at the Fukushima reactor buildings may actually be lowering the already fatal radiation levels found at Fukushima http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/world/asia/02japan.html

What happens if that water makes it into the ocean through cracks in the building concrete?

I bought a wet suit to swim in La Jolla Cove, but I don’t know if I will be able to use it there next year or ever.