updated June 2 2018
Recent research findings suggest
Fukushima radioisotopes can be found widely in the ocean. A study published in Environmental Science Technology in 2012
reported that radiostrontium levels in surface seawater remain elevated and
were in some areas comparable, to or even higher, than those measured for
cesium 137 in December of 2011.[i]
The researchers concluded that the total amount of Strontium 90 released into
the marine environment could reach approximately 1 PBq. Another study found
cesium-134 deposits in marine snow gathered 2000 kilometers away from the plant
at depths of 5000 meters measuring 1,200 Bq/kg.
Contamination
has been detected as far away as U.S. coastal waters in Southern California.A third
study, focusing on radioiodine in U.S. coastal kelp, reported Iodine-131 had been detected in Macrocystis
pyrifera off the coast of Southern California in the summer of 2011.[ii] The
researchers of the kelp study described their findings in a local Long Beach
media interview:
“Radioactivity is
taken up by the kelp and anything that feeds on the kelp will be exposed to
this also,” [California State University, Long Beach marine biology professors
Steven L. Manley] continued. “Even though we detected low levels, it still got
into the environment and we don’t know anything about the other radioisotopes
like cesium 137, which stays around much longer than iodine. In fact, the values that we reported for
iodine probably underestimate what was probably in there. It could be two to
three times more because we were just sampling the surface tissue; the biomass
estimates were based on canopy tissue and a lot of kelp biomass is underneath.
So, probably two or three times more was in the tissue at its height. Then it
enters the coastal food web and gets dispersed over a variety of organisms. I
would assume it’s there. It’s not a good thing, but whether it actually has a
measureable [sic] detrimental effect is beyond my expertise.” [iii]
Kelp is at the bottom of the food
chain. The radioisotopes in kelp will biomagnify up the food chain.
Predicting long
term environmental and health effects is complicated by uncertainties about the
“fallout” levels of various radioisotopes. How long will the radioisotopes
inflict damage on the environment? A study modeling dilution declines of
Cesium-137 published in Environmental
Research Letters predicted that after seven years the “total peak
radioactivity levels would still be about twice the pre-Fukushima values” off
the coastal waters of North America”[iv]
Given these findings, it is hard to discount the potential role of radionuclides in producing the "Wave of Stranded Sea Lions" which "Baffles Southern California." The article was reported in The Wall Street Journal (2/13/2013) p. A3. The Marine Mammal Care Center of San Pedro California has admitted 92 malnourished sea lions since the start of January. Ordinarily it admits 10-12.
This is not the first incident of sickened seals. Enenews reported some time back that sickened seals were being found in Alaska. These seals were missing fur and had sores on their bodies. They were being tested but the test results were never disclosed publicly.
Sickened
Alaska seals concentrated where Fukushima radioactive plume made landfall after
3/11 (MAPS)' http://enenews.com/alaskan-seal-concentrated-fukushima-radioactive-plume-made-landfall-after-311-maps/comment-page-1#comment-330760
Fukushima radiation is IN THE PACIFIC ocean and contaminated kelp in Southern Ca. Kelp is one base of the Pacific, coastal food chain. The contaminated food chain is no doubt compromising the immune systems of animals that depend upon it. Its hard to know whether the seals have been sickened directly by the ingestion of radioisotopes or whether they have been weakened to the point where they are highly susceptible to opportunist viruses and bacteria.
It is clear to me that Fukushima is going to have absolutely catastrophic effects on the Pacific eco-system in all impacted areas.
[i] P.
Povinec, K. Hirose, and M. Aoyama (18 September 2012) ‘Radiostrontium in the Western North Pacific: Characteristics,
Behavior, and the Fukushima Impact’, Environmental
Science & Technology, 46.18,
10356–10363.
[ii] S. Manley and C. Lowe (6 March 2012) ‘Canopy-Forming
Kelps as California’s Coastal Dosimeter: 131I from Damaged Japanese Reactor
Measured in Macrocystis Pyrifera’, Environmental
Science & Technology,
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es203598r?journalCode=esthag.
[iii] ‘Study
Finds Radioactive Fallout in California Kelp Beds’
(5 April 2012), Everything Long
Beach, http://www.everythinglongbeach.com/study-finds-radioactive-fallout-in-california-kelp-beds/, date accessed 6 April 2012.
[iv] E. Behrens, F. Schwarzkopf, J.
Lübbecke, and C. Böning (2012) ‘Model
Simulations on the Long-Term Dispersal of 137Cs Released into the
Pacific Ocean off Fukushima’, Environ. Res. Lett.,
7.3, http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/7/3/034004/.
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