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Sorry the blog hasn't been too communicative since June 17th (!). I will attempt an update with my excruciatingly slow typing skills. Last week our staff person Jon bought an old skiff with an Evenrood (sp.?) on it and has taken several of us out on the river and up some"sloughs". The rides have been great! This river is as muddy as the Mississippi, with glacial silt instead of Missouri breaks mud and pollution. No pics- sorry. He has promised to let me off on an island where I can paint sometime soon. Not now though- hoping for a pleasant day. July is the rainy month, and then it starts to get colder. June seems to have been the warmest month- we saw a few days in 80's, not sure if it hit 90. Alot of native fishing in early July, but the state regulates this fiercely- only a two week window and fishing is only for native people, as I understand it. But we have received some wonderful King Salmon from a generous donor and his family. Even had some bear- very "deep" taste- def not cattle-like. There are many native fishcamps along the river. The salmon runs have been extremely low this year. Maybe I'm wrong but I have a "theory" about this though they say it happens periodically. To wit; via my Facebook page. Is this a correct usage of the semi-colon? Hard to tell.
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Q: has Fukishama radiation plume in Pacific contributed to drastic declne in Salmon runs in Alaska this year? Seawater is still being used to cool down the affected reactors and being discharged. The several types of native salmon migrate pretty far out.
A:
- Namewithheld - Almost certainly not. I don't know salmon migration patterns, but they'd need to be close to shore when the tsunami happened and be caught in its churn and debris directly. In open water a tsunami might not be very noticeable to fish. As for radionucleides, there effects will likely be seen more in future generations of salmon, as parents biaccumulate, and mutations are passed on and fertility affected, etc.
- Dan Osterman wow Jon I am impressed. to be clear I'm talking about the food chain itself being affected.
Namewithheld No question, Dan, there will be effects for a very long time; Strontium and Cesium from open air testing in the fifties and sixties is still present and detectable. This may be more significant for humans than for organisms that are lower on the food chain. Chernobyl studies are showing that plant and animal fecundity doesn't seem to be reduced, and human exclusion has created something of a wildlife sanctuary there. There will likely be a very small market for marine products contaminated by Fukushima, so fish and aquatic stocks may have much reduced harvesting. However, it looks like the Japanese government is looking for a way to cast eating contaminated food as a statement of national solidarity. We'll have to be very careful about eating plants and animals that are themselves bioaccumulators of many toxins, and I'd think that the fatty tissues of salmon are excellent repositories for radioactive materials.
Dan Osterman seaweed off California 500 times normal radiation. - http://www.naturalnews.com/ 036449_seaweed_California_r adiation.html
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To further add to the confusion, see: http://rt.com/usa/news/us-coast-levels-fukushima-412/ from this month: "A team of scientists led by Joke F Lübbecke of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory have published the findings of an experiment recently conducted to measure the impact of last year’s nuclear disaster and the results are eye-opening to say the least. By simulating the spreading of contaminated ocean waters and seeing how currents could carry them across the Pacific from Japan to the US, scientists believe that the worst might be still on the way."
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Of such do my worries consist.
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