This is awful news, isn’t it? Not to mention what it means for exposed humans:
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.
I have been following this situation, as a good friend is in Japan. American experts have compared this to Chernobyl! The Japanese government keeps downplaying the catastrophic problems.
This is only the latest in the ongoing degradation of the lifeways of indigenous circumpolar peoples. It’s been known for some time that the sea mammals these people depend upon for subsistence are contaminated with PCB’s and other toxins. The adverse health effects are evident throughout the region. Genocide by carelessness.