Victims of Fukushima

[chervilant]

A large group of dolphins stranded near the Fukushima Prefecture have died. Scientists have determined that the dolphins died of radiation poisoning.

Fukushima Diary, Apr 12, 2015: According to National Science Museum, most of the inspected 17 dolphins had their lungs in ischaemia state… The chief of the researching team stated “Most of the lungs looked entirely white”… internal organs were generally clean without any symptoms of disease or infection, but most of the lungs were in ischaemia state. She said “I have never seen such a state”.

For more information, go here.

[guillaumeb]

1. And is this a surprise

when this is happening?:
from a link,
Cleanup crews trying to mitigate Japan’s never-ending radiation crisis at Fukushima ran into more problems recently after sensors monitoring a drainage gutter detected a huge spike in radiation levels from wastewater pouring into the Pacific Ocean.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company says radiation levels were up to 70 times, or 7,000 percent, higher than normal, prompting an immediate shutdown of the drainage instrument. The first readings came around 10 a.m. local time on February 22, setting off alarms not once but twice as radiation levels spiked to extremely high levels.
the link:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-radiation-spikes-7000-as-contaminated-water-pours-into-the-ocean/5434258

Remember when TEPCO said there would be no problem with radiation leakage?

[chervilant]

3. Some members of this forum

persist in asserting that the radiation leaking into the Pacific will disperse until it's not a threat to the US--a NIMBY response to this horrific catastrophe. I am wondering if any of these DUers will weigh in on these latest victims of the Fukushima disaster.

[Journeyman]

2. Doesn't "victims" encompass us all? . . .

[chervilant]

4. Yes,

and there are a few members of this forum who've argued that the US will not be threatened by the Fukushima disaster. I think they are wrong.

[Journeyman]

6. My response to them is ever the same: Benjamin Franklin expressed it in "Poor Richard's Almanack"...

"Many a mickle makes a muckle."

[NickB79]

5. You notice none of the actual researchers state the ischaemia was caused by radiation?

The authors of the article are the ones making that leap, one so far unsupported by science at this point. White lungs are not a definitive sign of radiation poisoning, especially if there are no other organs damaged.

FYI, ischaemia in dolphins and other diving animals isn't unprecedented: https://swfsc.noaa.gov/uploadedfiles/divisions/prd/programs/etp_cetacean_assessment/lj_02_24c.pdf

See page 8, where they discuss dolphins dying of ischaemic reactions due to high-stress encounters (either with predators or humans).

Also, note this study was from 2002.

Also, studies have observed ischaemia in seals attributed to deep diving excursions: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9773490

I would be interested in the dolphin's stomach contents. If there is evidence they are feeding on fish at very deep levels, the pod may have dived too deep to rapidly, perhaps driven down by a lack of food closer to the surface by either overfishing or warming waters from climate change.

[chervilant]

8. That scientists and others

continue to diminish the effects of the Fukushima disaster does not surprise me.

[NickB79]

11. So the scientists are in on it too?

The conspiracy grows!

[chervilant]

13. Puh-leeze!

This is not about a conspiracy, nor are scientists infallible. Nuclear physicists, and other scientists in nuclear energy industries, have a vested interest in supporting nuclear energy, and many have a long history of dissembling about the dangers of radioactivity, and the costs of "storing" spent fuel.

[sue4e3]

7. The translated article comes from EneNews

ene news is bs not even news

[chervilant]

9. Really?

The same might be said of virtually every "news" outlet on the planet.

[sue4e3]

12. believe what you want

but enenews is about as reliable as as a grocery store tabloid.This story was probably loosely based on a dolphin die off with unknown causes.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/10/nearly-150-dolphins-beached-on-japanese-shore.html

[chervilant]

14. "Blah, blah, blah, Ginger, blah, blah, blah!"

I trust that you will seek whatever resources you consider "reliable," in order to develop an informed opinion about whether the radiation spewing into the Pacific from the crippled Fukushima reactors is adversely affecting the flora and fauna of the ocean. I believe that it is, and this article is the only one I could find regarding the autopsy results on the dead dolphins. Perhaps you can share anything you might have found?

Snarking at resources does not change the fact that the Fukushima disaster continues unabated, and the co-opted press has provided very limited information.

[sue4e3]

16. Call it what you want I just don't believe anything enenews has to say

They outright lie to get you to read it.(tabloid). I believe 130- 150 dolphins died. I found that in other places. Every msm and nonmsm outlet, that I found states this happened for unknown causes. No article any where that I could find (other than ones that originated with enenews)mention white lungs and autopsy. So, I don't believe that part. Your entitled to believe whatever you would like. As far as fukushima being another terrible man-made disaster, yes I believe that. Do I think it going to cause some much more egregious , cataclysmic event? No I don't.

[mackdaddy]

15. ENENews.com is an aggregator of other news sources

The stories are from a multitude of news outlets. I do not think that they write their own articles.

I see it much like the Latest Breaking news section here at DU. They of course do have a point of view and "cherry pick" articles that support their point of view and provide a few paragraphs and a link to the original article, and a place for comments on the articles. Again just like LBN or even this group, Environment and Energy.

I have seen many articles from many sources highlighted by ENENews that would have just slipped down the memory hole otherwise.

so no bs.

[madokie]

10. Two things concerning nuclear energy

that says we should not be using it it. 1: As long as we don't know what or how to deal with the everyday waste we should not be making more. I know there are those who say Oh we know what to do with it, bury it, Well to that I ask where? 2: As long as we don't know how to control it when it goes wrong we should not be using it for any reason. Putting a sarcophagus over it as they did in Chernobyl is not the answer nor is letting it run its course as they're doing in Fukushima now is either. Tepco has admitted they do not know what to do, no one does.

On paper under ideal condition I can't see why we'd use anything else but nuclear energy, trouble is 1&2 I listed above.

Yucca mountain wouldn't hold all of what we have today let alone hold what is made in the future so that is out as a viable means of disposing of the waste.

something to think about: http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/inside-the-earth/nuclear-waste/

On a level playing field there would be no and I mean NO nuclear power plants in the usa today. We've wasted 60 plus years of developments of alternate methods of making our electricity because of the pig in a poke called safe and cheap energy we were sold all those years ago.