Scientists test sick Alaska seals for radiation

[IDemo]

Reuters - updated 2 hours 19 minutes ago 2011-12-28T00:35:49


SEATTLE — Scientists in Alaska are investigating whether local seals are being sickened by radiation from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

Scores of ring seals have washed up on Alaska's Arctic coastline since July, suffering or killed by a mysterious disease marked by bleeding lesions on the hind flippers, irritated skin around the nose and eyes and patchy hair loss on the animals' fur coats.

Biologists at first thought the seals were suffering from a virus, but they have so far been unable to identify one, and tests are now underway to find out if radiation is a factor.

"We recently received samples of seal tissue from diseased animals captured near St. Lawrence Island with a request to examine the material for radioactivity," said John Kelley, Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Marine Science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45800485/ns/technology_and_science-science/

[Politicalboi]

1. How sad

I bet it is from Japan's leak.

[TheWraith]

8. Very doubtful.

The amount of radiation released by Fukushima is small even at the point of release, before crossing an ocean, and the plant has been more or less shut down for months.

Most likely, there's simply some sort of virus they haven't been able to ID, or possibly a parasite infection such as the one that causes mange.

[wordpix]

9. wow you're certainly very knowledgeable for having never even seen one of the seals

not to mention, you're SURE Fuku couldn't have caused the massive radiation from the meltdown we all saw (if we were reading and watching the reports).

Just wondering, what nuke plant you're working for or maybe you're an industry apologist?

"It's perfectly safe" after the Fuku disaster just doesn't cut it, buddy.

[Doremus]

12. Amazing, isn't it? Purports to know all there is to know sans most pertinent facts.

But he just *knows* it could NEVER be radiation poisoning, no matter what!

[CoffeeCat]

44. Especially when our government has been LYING...

...and lying by omission.

The French authority on radiation issued a warning to all Europeans, to not eat leafy
greens or drink milk--due to high levels of radiation that was found in these foods.

That warning was issued back in April!

And to make matters worse--radiation levels in both milk and leafy greens were found
to be even higher than in Europe.

Europe got warnings several months ago. The United States got nothing.

Anyone who suggests that the radiation levels are just fine and dandy are living
in a fantasy world where our government is honest and loves each and every
one of us so dearly.

[uppityperson]

46. Not quite. That milk warning was only for youngsters and expectant mothers, not "all Europeans".

It is bad enough, no need to try and make it worse by posting inaccurate information.

[CoffeeCat]

50. I understand what you are saying...

...and you are right--the warning for Europeans was for pregnant women and for very young children. However, those warnings indicate that radiation levels were dangerous. Even though the warnings weren't for the general population, it is still a concern for the general population because anyone can consume a great deal of radiation--due the cumulative effect.

If you drink a lot of milk or eat a lot of leafy greens, that would raise your levels. Some of these isotopes stay in the body for decades. I understand that the warnings were for the groups that you mentioned, but many researchers indicate that NO AMOUNT of these hot particles are safe to have in your body. These particles nestle in our thyroids and cause cancer and they stay for prolonged periods. So, this leaves the general population vulnerable too.

Also--the levels of radiation after the French research group issued that warning--have only exacerbated. Radiation evels in America were even higher than in Europe--and our country
received NO warning for anyone--not pregnant women, not children. But Europeans got those
warnings--with lower levels that we had.

I'd say that the concern is that we are getting no help. We're getting cover ups. So truly--how
can we know the level of danger in which we truly find ourselves? That's frightening, in itself.

Your point is well taken, and I should have clarified that the warning was for specific groups. However, I will also say that while those warnings were for babies and pregnant women--that
does not mean that people outside of those groups were not in danger.

[TheWraith]

15. It's called understanding science.

You clearly don't, if you think that you can judge a situation from TV reports. I know what a measurable dose is, what a dangerous dose is, and I understand radioactive decay. I also know that the microscopic amount of radiation that was measurable in North America for only a few weeks after the disaster was barely enough to register, not nearly enough to produce any actual harm.

[wordpix]

19. and you also know the migration habits of these seals? You're an expert on where they were before

they washed up in AK?

Your jumping to conclusions based on your knowledge of radiation does not make you look smarter than scientists investigating whether or not the seals have radiation poisoning.

[Citizen Worker]

35. So minor was the release of radioactive materials that Obama ordered the EPA to cease monitoring.

[CoffeeCat]

45. Yes, no one talks about this any more...

Radiation levels were high. We found Iodine 131 and Cesium in our milk supply
and were were also finding isotopes in vegetables and fruits--as well as in our drinking
supply.

Suddenly, the government decides--in the middle of a Chernobyl-level meltdown--that
the EPA doesn't needs to release radioactive particle levels anymore. Despite the fact
that we had been doing them as routine for years.

We found harmful levels of isotopes months ago. What has happened during the past
several months, when these harmful isotopes have continued to be released from
Fukushima--and accumulate everywhere? It's not good, that's for sure.

The cover up has been despicable.

[PearliePoo2]

51. Yes....interesting, no?

Nearby where I live, Sidney BC initially showed radiation readings. Scientists studying the coast of Vancouver Island found seaweed that was hot.
Now...NOTHING.
I guess its all gone away....um...bullshit.

[wordpix]

49. O has done plenty wrong including wanting taxpayers to guarantee loans for new nukes@ $36 billion

mainly because investors don't think they're viable to build and operate with all the uncertainties, financial included. So the fact O shut down EPA monitoring is not surprising and just one more reason I'm not giving to his campaign until I hear a different story from him on the environment.

[wordpix]

54. when you understand science, you know you have to investigate a question, not jump to conclusions

You have concluded there is NO WAY the seals have died or become ill due to radiation sickness, without even looking at one seal, at the start of an investigation where experts are examining the seals but have not yet concluded anything.

So who is not knowledgeable about testing a hypothesis and scientific inquiry here?

[AtheistCrusader]

31. This same exact story broke within days of Fukushima, regarding a different species on the west coas

t, and of course, the reactors were blamed, despite the complete lack of material that had arrived, and the physical distance the fish could not have traversed in the period of time available.

So yeah, I'm pretty skeptical that this has anything to do with the reactors.

Not ruling out human activity though. We dump plenty of awful shit into that ocean, all around.
If the autopsies don't show what you are expecting, you'll never know because it just won't get reported.

[kristopher]

36. That isn't the way it happened

The reactors were not "blamed", but the suggestion to check for radiation was raised. Since the "evidence" against a contaminated food supply was addressed no better in that instance than it has been in this one, your citation is disingenuous at best.

[AtheistCrusader]

37. They were littoral fish.

They didn't go anywhere. They didn't feed on anything that had the speed and range to get here from there. The tests were done, it was a biological source, not radiological.

We've also since tested far-ranging migratory fish like Salmon. http://tvnewslies.org/tvnl/index.php/news/environment/20418-west-coast-fish-to-be-tested-for-fukushima-radiation.html

Nothing exciting to report in 3 months.

Disingenuous my ass. Shall I post the DU2 thread where it was plainly assumed by many posters that Fukushima HAD to be responsible?

[kristopher]

47. Yes, please do so.

[AtheistCrusader]

48. I take that back.

It was YOU, and you suggested fukushima should be the first cause investigated.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x294262#294588

Nevermind they were littoral fish, little to no exposure, and were dying like that before the reactors were damaged in the first place.
Of course, you stopped responding when that was brought up.

[uncleroy]

10. go to enenews.com

that s not a typo; it s an energy news site you might be better informed...

[wordpix]

13. read "Nuclear Roulette: The Case Against a Nuclear Renaissance" & maybe

YOU"LL get informed.

I've got enough information, thank you.

[TheWraith]

16. Enenews isn't an energy news website. It's a pseudoscience website.

It reports a lot of "news" which isn't actually true. If that's where you get your news, I can understand why you'd think that way.

[amerfayed]

23. All links to mainstream news reports... strange you can't deal with facts eom

[saras]

43. By "mainstream" do you mean "corporate mainstream", or "mainstream outside the US corporate sphere"?

They are, after all, mutually exclusive. We don't HAVE any "mainstream" news outlets any more, for example. They've all, of necessity, chosen sides.

[dotymed]

25. I am not personally attacking you,

I do find it interesting that your wide array of knowledge over so many subjects, always leads you to the same conclusion. "All is right as it is" seems to be your conclusion, no matter what the subject is.
Do you by any chance belong to a "think-tank" where ALL of the issues are discussed and explained?
There are few posters who seem to KNOW ALL of the answers, yet you seem to fit that niche. Surprisingly(?) your knowledge always suggests that there is absolutely nothing to worry about within the status quo.
Just an observation.
I would prefer to stay on subject...

[stonecutter357]

27. K&R...

They learned this crap from BP.

[greiner3]

33. I would direct you;

To fairewinds.com and in particular Arnie Gunderson's videos. He is about the premier expert in nuclear plants; in the world. He disagrees with your premise, conclusion and alternatives. He has put out almost a weekly update on the disaster at Fukishima. He is saying that one of the destroyed reactors has NEARLY done the unthinkable; CHINA SYNDROME. If you have not heard of this term, it was made famous in the Jane Fonda/Jack Lemmon movie about a nuclear plant that NEARLY had its core melt down and begin its way to, China. This is a euphemism. Of course it would not go further than the Mantle. This begins about 30 miles deep. However, there are papers that say the pressure at this point in the Earth's interior is so great that molten magma would shoot up through the resultant hole in the ground. I think you have heard of volcanoes. Anyway, the reactors have not had a complete meltdown yet. However, the radiation clouds are known to have drifted over the Continental US.

Also check out Dr. Michio Kaku (website URL http://mkaku.org/). He is also on vast amounts of YouTube videos where he gives EXPERT insight into the problems of Fukishima. His EXPERT analysis shows that radiation HAS leaked into the ground water in massive amounts and that this in turn has emptied into the Pacific.

From a Wiki article; "Ringed seals have a circumpolar distribution from approximately 35°N to the North Pole, occurring in all seas of the Arctic Ocean. In the North Pacific, they are found in the southern Bering Sea and range as far south as the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan. Throughout their range, ringed seals have an affinity for ice-covered waters and are well adapted to occupying seasonal and permanent ice. They tend to prefer large floes (i.e., > 48 m in diameter) and are often found in the interior ice pack where the sea ice coverage is greater than 90%. They remain in contact with ice most of the year and pup on the ice in late winter-early spring.[7]"

And; "Ringed seals eat a wide variety of small prey that consists of 72 species of fish and invertebrates. Feeding is usually a solitary behavior and their prey of choice includes mysids, shrimp, arctic cod, and herring. While feeding, ringed seals dive to depths of 35 to 150 ft (10–45 m).[4] In the summer ringed seals feed along edge of the sea-ice for polar cod. In shallow water they feed on smaller cod. Ringed seals may also eat herring, smelt, whitefish, sculpin, perch, and crustaceans."

&feature=related is a URL from NASA. It shows the world's ocean currents. A large northern Pacific cold water current is shown flowing from the Japanese islands flowing DIRECTLY to the southern coast of Alaska. It then turns north along the Alaskan coast and goes into the Arctic Ocean.
There is one more thing I think I need to mention; Walruses are also turning up dead from pretty much the same ailments. I think you have heard of a food chain. This is where some animals eat plants and these in turn are eaten by smallish predators who in turn are eaten by larger predators until you come to the 'lion in the ecosystem,' in this case the walruses who's main diet, in certain times of the year anyway, is ring seals.

In this ecosystem first the plankton becomes radiated which is eaten by 'vegetarian' fish. Seals eat at least 1 species of fish (please correct me if I am wrong. I can not find info on this right now.). The seals are eating the fish which have gobbled up the plankton and in turn may be getting sick from the accumulated radiation particles. Some reports say that there has not been much radiation reported from the Alaskan waters. However, as I noted above, the seals and fishes have HUGE territories they travel.

I think your post may not have been well thought out before you posted it. Maybe you could go back and edit it with a more scientific point of view. After all, this is DU and WE do not 'muddy the water' with mis truths and pseudo science.

[PearliePoo2]

34. The plant has been shut down for months??

Not hardly.
Yes, they announced with great fanfare a "cold shutdown" by the end of the year. How miraculous that they say they have achieved just that...right on schedule...except it's all bullshit.
One plant has it's "melt-through" core so far down in a hole, they can't get temperature sensors even close to read it. They don't know what the true temperature is.
Another reactor is so HOT with deadly radiation, it's not accessible to humans to see what's going on. Any robots they have built so far have gotten their electronics fried and lost forever. The technology to build robots to withstand this environment is a long ways off.
The radiation maps that are showing up now disagree with your premise that "the amount of radiation is small". In fact, hot spots are being detected all over Japan..even in Tokyo 200 miles away.
The government of Japan and TEPCO are not being honest. It's in their own best interest to be vague, disingenuous and paint a rosy picture.
Tokyo alone has about 30 million people. Do you think they wanted a wide-spread panic?
What is happening is criminal.
Watch this video please and try to educate yourself...there's a lot more reliable info out there, but first you have to look.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/movie/feature_nuclear.html

[CreekDog]

42. mistake you're making is assuming "ambient" radiation levels preclude hot spots of higher levels`

or particles, which may be harmful.

you are treating specific scientific measurements, which is a sample, as the only possible value or concentration or amount of radiation, or the radiation level's cause, when they are in fact, snapshots, samples in the universe of data that's out there, some which may be higher or not represented by the lower number.

[Trillo]

2. Let us know when the results come in.

The results aren't due for 3 weeks, according to the article.

[FirstLight]

3. sound like radiation poisoning to me

poor babies!

...and poor US as the ramifications of this disaster become more and more apparent in the months and years to come... fishing impacted, seaweed, what else...?

[Hawkowl]

4. Eat fish at your peril!

First, the Gulf oil disaster, now Japan is busy irradiating the entire Pacific ocean. We are just now getting Japan's tsunamic debris washing onshore the Pacific coast. The radioactive debris is next.

[dotymed]

26. Unfortunately, I gave up seafood

during the last Gulf oil-spill. A once healthy food source is off of my menu.

[jerseyjack]

5. NPR, Talk of the Nation today, reports US agency is now approving a newly engineered nuc. plant.

But don't worry. Its safe.

[wordpix]

11. "It's not only safe, it's cheap, too" as long as taxpayers guarantee construction loans, build waste

storage sites, keep the waste secure for thousands of years ----and decommission the old plants. Besides that, it's a great source of energy except sometimes there are meltdowns, we have tons of spent fuel rods sitting in "temporary" storage pools for decades, and there is no answer to the nuke waste question---and investors don't want to invest in new plants.

[lonestarnot]

6. Poor things.

[freshwest]

7. It's horrible.

[wordpix]

14. the entire planet is dying

[BeHereNow]

20. HOPI Prophecies- akin to SO many other indigenous peoples prophecies.

&feature=player_embedded
Compare to the Kogi prophecies.
Amazing.

BHN

[wordpix]

29. nice video, thanks

Unfortunately, the nuclear advocates think the part about the spirit world is BS - they worship POWER and MONEY.

Was just reading "Black Elk Speaks" and he recounts the Europeans' discovery of gold in the Black Hills that was the immediate cause of the Lakotas and other tribes going to war against the US. Black Elk said the native people knew of the chunks of shiny rocks (gold) in the streams of the Black Hills but they were good for nothing, so they were left alone.

This is what we're up against---a clash of cultures ---the power-hungry, greedy moneygrubbers who destroy the land, water and sky vs. the rest of us.

[zeemike]

40. +1

no more needs to be said.

[BeHereNow]

53. There are other segments from the Elders on Youtube

that you might enjoy.
And you are correct- no more needs to be said.
BHN

[SunSeeker]

17. Please repost when the results come back. Thanks IDemo! n/t

[glinda]

18. Yes. Please post. This makes me cry.

[DeSwiss]

21. K&R

“We do not expect harmful levels of radiation to reach the United States, whether it’s the West Coast, Hawaii, Alaska, or U.S. territories in the Pacific. That is the judgment of our Nuclear Regulatory Commission and many other experts.” President Barack Obama

- Now I'm certain it's radiation.......

[burrowowl]

22. Could be

hopefully the results will be reported.

[wordpix]

28. ah, yes, the NRC, that bastion of foxes guarding the nuclear henhouse

a source I ALWAYS trust for non-biased information

[solarman350]

24. Ask Dr. Kelley --WTF is Going On with these seals!!!

and why has it taken so long to get them tested for radiation sickness (since July of this year or thereabouts).

http://www.sfos.uaf.edu/directory/faculty/kelley

John Kelley
Professor Emeritus
Chemical Oceanography
School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
Institute of Marine Science
331 Irving II
P.O. Box 757220
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7220
USA

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

----------------------------
Could be that the ring seals' immune system was compromised after they came into contact with radioactive material. Then, they came down with whatever they've got now. Then again, they could be sick with radiation sickness. Lots of money at stake here folks. Those permits and license renewals for existing and planned nukes are big money. The entire nuke industry is on the line here. This one guy could be the nuke industry's deal maker or the deal breaker. He studied the effects of radiation on marine life when Chernobyl went off, and wrote papers on that. So, in for a penny, in for a pound....He may in fact be the nuke industry's yes man for marine biology. Ring him up...Email him. See if he's a nuke stooge or an honest scientist.

Solarman350

[uncleroy]

30. as i understand it,

if tepa doesn t get the 'all clear, it s safe now', there is so much "money" tied up in the deal already that japan itself could go bankrupt...which is why they have already declared 'cold shutdown'- even though no one knows for sure where the (molten) core IS, exactly...enenews reported that steam geysers and earthquakes have already happened- cesium volcano, anyone?

[Uncle Joe]

32. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, IDemo.

[Judi Lynn]

38. Could Fukushima plant be sickening, killing ringed seals in Alaska?

Posted at 01:50 PM ET, 12/28/2011
Could Fukushima plant be sickening, killing ringed seals in Alaska?
By Elizabeth Flock

For months now, U.S. scientists have been worried about consequences stateside of the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan in March. Now, scientists in Alaska say local ringed seals could be feeling the effects of radiation.

The D.C.-based Environment News Service reports that more than 60 seals have died and 75 seals fallen sick from a mysterious disease since mid-July. While biologist initially believed the seals were suffering from a virus, they are now testing to see if radiation is the culprit.

“Marked by bleeding lesions on the hind flippers, irritated skin around the nose and eyes and patchy hair loss on the animals’ fur coats,” the disease has caused many ringed seals to wash up on the Alaska shoreline, Reuters reports. It’s a species that rarely is seen ashore.

John Kelley, professor emeritus at the Institute of Marine Science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, told Reuters they are testing the seals for radiation because of concern expressed by members of local communities.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/fukushima-plant-could-be-sickening-killing-ringed-seals-in-alaska/2011/12/28/gIQATdPhMP_blog.html

[joeybee12]

39. That really sucks...

animals are the ones who pay for our folly.

[closeupready]

41. Children, too, as with war.

[Overseas]

52. Glad to see at least some sort of testing for Fukushima radiation over here.