So that Ozzie Yachtie article Weve Killed the Ocean previously linked has gone majorly viral. However, upon analysis of the many global mainstream media sources to write up articles about it and its subject of a Pacific Ocean in terminal illness, one finds no mention of Fukushima. This is more than co-incendental, of course, as the sailor was tied to a US program to measure radiation. While authority dictated media in not mentioning this, perhaps a bit more publicity will get some public results of the tests. The original Newcastle Herald article specifically mentions radioactive pollution from Fukushima and includes events that deserve scrutiny in that context: Macfadyen signed up to this scheme while he was in the US, responding to an approach by US academics who asked yachties to fill in daily survey forms and collect samples for radiation testing – a significant concern in the wake of the tsunami and consequent nuclear power station failure in Japan. The boat’s vivid yellow paint job, never faded by sun or sea in years gone past, reacted with something in the water off Japan, losing its sheen in a strange and unprecedented way. This would not have been caused by tsunami-related debris/chemicals, as any such would have been transported far from Japans coast during the intervening three years. Just to re-freshen the authors comments: “After we left Japan, it felt as if the ocean itself was dead.” “We hardly saw any living things.” “We saw one whale, sort of rolling helplessly on the surface with what looked like a big tumour on its head.” “I’ve done a lot of miles on the ocean in my life and I’m used to seeing turtles, dolphins, sharks and big flurries of feeding birds. But this time, for 3000 nautical miles there was nothing alive to be seen.”
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 00:26:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015