This post is meant to explain to interested readers where and how our samples of marine organisms from the northeast Pacific are monitored for Fukushima derived contamination as part of the InFORM project. It is presented as part of an ongoing series dedicated to communicating scientifically derived information about the impact of the Fukushima nuclear accident on ecosystem and public health.
Our funding organization, Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response (MEOPAR) network, recently had its annual scientific meeting in Ottawa, ON Canada. Ottawa is also the home of Health Canada’s Radiation Protection Bureau one of our Government research partners. My postdoctoral researcher Dr. Jonathan Kellogg took the opportunity to tour their research facilities. You can read his full report of the visit here.
Here is a short movie about the visit that shows how samples of Pacific salmon, steel head trout, whale, and shellfish have been subjected to gamma spectroscopy to look for the presence of naturally and artificially (including those from Fukushima) occurring radioisotopes. You can meet some of the scientists involved in the video as well. We expect to announce results of 2016 sampling shortly.
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