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Fukushima Radioactivity Detected Off West Coast

Satellite measurements of ocean temperature (illustrated by color) from July 28th to August 4th and the direction of currents (white arrows) help show where radionuclides from Fukushima are transported.  Large scale currents transport water westward across the Pacific.  Upwelling along the west coast of North America in the summertime brings cold deep water to the surface and transports water offshore.  Circles indicate the locations where water samples were collected.  White circles indicate that no cesium-134 was detected.  Blue circles indicate locations were low levels of cesium-134 were detected.  No cesium-134 has yet been detected along the coast, but low levels have been detected offshore. (Image Credit: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)   Monitoring efforts along the Pacific Coast of the U.S. and Canada have detected the presence of small amounts of radioactivity from the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident 100 miles (150 km) due west of Eureka, California. Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) found the trace amounts of telltale radioactive compounds as part of their ongoing monitoring of natural and human sources of radioactivity in the ocean. In the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami off Japan, the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant released cesium-134 and other ...

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NYK Provides Free Ocean Transport of Monument for Japanese Victims of 2011 Earthquake

NYK has provided free ocean transport for a monument recognizing the Japanese who lost their lives in the devastating earthquake that struck Christchurch, New Zealand, on February 22, 2011. Ocean transport was provided by NYK Line, and overland services in New Zealand and Japan were handled by NYK Group company Yusen Logistics.Of the two monuments that were produced, one was installed at a church in Christchurch, and the other was shipped by NYK at the request of the New Zealand Embassy to Toyama College of Foreign Languages, which lost 12 students in the disaster. The monument, funded by donations collected in Japan and New Zealand, stands on a wooden base made from one of New Zealand's kahikatea trees, which are characterized by their complicated structure of multiple tree roots and branches tangled on a single trunk, symbolizing the importance of human bonds and mutual support to overcome the sadness of this tragedy.The monument given to Toyama College of Foreign LanguagesThe monument arrived at the port of Toyama on June 8, and a dedication ceremony was held at the college on June 25. New Zealand foreign minister Murray McCully, New Zealand ambassador Ian Kennedy, and NYK corporate officer Yoko Wasaki joined ...

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Invasive species ride tsunami debris to US

When a floating dock the size of a boxcar washed up on a sandy beach in Oregon, beachcombers got excited because it was the largest piece of debris from last year's tsunami in Japan to show up on the US West Coast.But scientists worried it represented a whole new way for invasive species of seaweed, crabs and other marine organisms to break the earth's natural barriers and further muck up the West Coast's marine environments. And more invasive species could be hitching rides on tsunami debris expected to arrive in the weeks and months to come."We know extinctions occur with invasions," said John Chapman, assistant professor of fisheries and invasive species specialist at Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center. "This is like arrows shot into the dark. Some of them could hit a mark."Though the global economy has accelerated the process in recent decades by the sheer volume of ships, most from Asia, entering West Coast ports, the marine invasion has been in full swing since 1869, when the transcontinental railroad brought the first shipment of East Coast oysters packed in seaweed and mud to San Francisco, said Andrew Cohen, director of the Center for Research on Aquatic Bioinvasions ...

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