Scientists
present links between unusual Alaska seal deaths and Fukushima
fallout
- Skin lesions, hair loss, lethargy —
- ‘Pulsed release’ when built-up radionuclides were set free as ice melted
- “Wildlife health implications” due to radiation exposure discussed
26
January, 2014
Alaska
Marine Science Symposium (pdf),
Jan. 20-24, 2014 (emphasis
added): 2011
Fukushima Fall Out: Aerial Deposition On To Sea Ice Scenario And
Wildlife Health Implications To Ice-Associated Seals (Dr.
Doug Dasher, John Kelley, Gay Sheffield, Raphaela Stimmelmayr)
— On March 11, 2011 off Japan’s west coast, an
earthquake-generated tsunami struck the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
power plant resulting in a major nuclear accident that included a
large release of airborne radionuclides into the environment. Within
five days of the accident atmospheric air masses carrying Fukushima
radiation were transiting into the northern Bering and Chukchi
seas.During
summer 2011 it became evident to
coastal communities and wildlife management agencies that there
was a novel disease outbreak occurring in several species of Arctic
ice-associated seals.
Grosssymptoms associated with the disease included lethargy,
no new hair growth, and skin lesions,
with the majority of the outbreak reports occurring between the Nome
and Barrow region. NOAA and USFWS declared an Alaska Northern
Pinnipeds Usual Mortality Event (UME) in late winter of 2011. The
ongoing Alaska 2011 Northern Pinnipeds UME investigation continues to
explore a mix of potential etiologies (infectious, endocrine, toxins,
nutritious etc.),including
radioactivity.
Currently, the underlying etiology remains undetermined. We
present results
on gamma analysis (cesium 134 and 137) of muscle tissue from
control and diseased seals, anddiscuss
wildlife health implications from different possible routes of
exposure to Fukushima fallout to ice seals.
Since the Fukushima fallout period occurred during the annual sea ice
cover period from Nome to Barrow, a sea ice
based fallout scenario
in addition to amarine
food web based
one is of
particular relevance for the Fukushima accident.
Under a proposed sea ice fallout deposition scenario, radionuclides
would have been settled onto sea ice. Sea ice and snow would have
acted as a temporary refuge for deposited radionuclides; thus
radionuclides would have only become available for migration during
the melting season and would not have entered the regional food web
in any appreciable manner until breakup (pulsed
release).
The cumulative on-ice exposure
for ice seals would have occurred through external, inhalation,
and non-equilibrium dietary
pathwaysduring
the ice-based seasonal spring haulout period for
molting/pupping/breeding activities. Additionally, ice seals would
have been under dietary/metabolic constraints and experiencing
hormonal changes associated with reproduction and molting.
Two
of the four authors will be appearing on an Alaska radio program this
Tuesday January 28 to discuss radiation from Fukushima:
Radiation
from Fukushima,
APRN (Alaska Public Radio Network), Jan. 24, 2014: They’re having
trouble sealing up the leaking nuclear power plants in Japan and
they’re also having trouble disclosing what is going on there. Is
this a reason to distrust Alaska seafood? [...] GUESTS: Professor
Doug Dasher, Environmental Oceanographer, University of Alaska
Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Science — Dr. John Kelley,
Professor Emeritus, University of Alaska Fairbanks, former Director,
Naval Arctic Research Laboratory — Post your comment before, during
or after the live broadcast (comments may be read on air). [...] LIVE
Broadcast: Tuesday, January 28, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. [...]
Reports:
White ‘goo’ everywhere in Alaska seal, crows won’t touch it…
yet they eat people’s roofs
- Slime in ones mouth, kidney almost black
- Another appeared to change color
- Hairless one seen recently: “We all still have sick seals here!”
26
January, 2014
Local
Environmental Observers (LEO) Network,
Oct. 24, 2013: Hairless
seal near Shishmaref—
Shishmaref Alaska. October 19, 2013 (seals, subsistence) My friend
and her husband shot a spotted seal at the mouth of Serpentine River
on Saturday Oct. 19th as they were pulling it in the boat they notice
it was a hairless seal, she didn’t have anything to take a picture
with. Just to let you know we all still have sick seals here! [...]
Local
Environmental Observers (LEO) Network,
Updated Oct. 8, 2013: Sick
spotted seal —
Eek, Alaska, April 12, 2013 (marine mammal) [...] hunter reported
that he had caught a spotted seal that he thought was sick. He then
proceeded to gut the marine animal and found there was white puss or
goo like substance along the muscle tissue everywhere. [...] a
very small bit of the fat was chewed on and nothing else. We have
crows, they are known to eat just about anything, even silicone off
the roof… this animal is not being touched. [...]
Local
Environmental Observers (LEO) Network,
May 29, 2012: Unusual
bearded seal harvested —
Shishmaref, May 29, 2012 (sea mammal) One of our local hunters,
hunting about 14 miles west of Shishmaref, reports shooting a regular
Bearded Seal [...] The first thing the hunter visually noticed was a
clear slime within the mouth [...] upon butchering there was hardly
any fat, and further butchering, the liver was described as small
than normal, approximately 1/2 the size of a normal liver for that
size. The next thing they noticed was the one side kidney was
approximately twice as big as the other, and that the bigger kidney
had the appearance of darker color, and also most black. [...]
Local Environmental Observers (LEO) Network, May 19, 2012: Discolored seal with sores on side flipper — Shishmaref, May 19, 2012 11:30 PM, (sea animal) This ringed seal [...] seems to [have] a BB size lump on one of the forearms, and showing evidence of sores on one side flipper. Hopefully this seal will bring us closer to understanding what may be causing the illness and disease that our marine mammals are being affected by. According to researchers, this is only the second seal that is discolored, the other came from Russia, colored orange. [...]
Nikita
Ovsyanikov, Russian Academy of Sciences,
March 2012: Almost all diseased seals found on Wrangel Island beaches
were only partially consumed by polar bears. [It] is very different
from how they eat normal carcasses [...]
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