Hawaii and West Coast fear the worst as debris and radiation drifts across Pacific Ocean
The surfers in Hawaii and on the West Coast are not comfortable with the fact that the debris and radiation from the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan last month is drifting across the Pacific Ocean. They fear that they will soon be receiving unwanted
deposits, which would not only cause pollution, but also pose a serious threat to their safety.
On March 11, Japan was hit by a devastating earthquake of an 8.9 magnitude in the northeast region. The nightmare continued as a 33-foot tsunami followed by the earthquake along the parts of the country’s coastline. The huge sea wave swept away houses, cars,
boats, etc. Some of the trappings will be making its way to the West Coast on the current of the North Pacific Gyre. The North Pacific gyre, which is one of the five major oceanic gyres, travels east from Japan to the Pacific Northwest before heading down
the coast to Southern California and Mexico. Eventually it travels west into the ocean again. It is during this return trip to Japan that it passes Hawaii. The surfers in Hawaii and West Coast fear that the gyre will be depositing debris along their shores.
However, according to the oceanographers’ estimation, it will still be two years before the trappings from Japan starts washing ashore in the Pacific Northwest. The risk of any serious damage will be minimal as most of the debris will have sunk by then and
the bigger bits will have been smashed up into smaller relatively harmless bits due to storms. According to one of the expert, there is a very remote chance of a big piece of house landing on anyone in West Coast or Hawaii.
Another concern for the surfers of West Coast and Hawaii is radiation. The Japanese government admitted on April 15 that over 10,000 metric tons of radioactive water had been dumped from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The dumping was done in order
to make room for the storage of water that had been exposed to radiation more.
According to a report, the electric company which runs the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co, (TEPCO), released 10,393 metric tons of irradiated water from April 4-10. The report states the amount of radiation in the released water to be about 100 times higher
than the legal limit. The report revealed that Iodine-131 was the common isotope in the dumped water, while Cesium-134 and Cesium-137 were found at lower levels.
ASR marine consultants have created a model that shows the radiation travelling to the West Coast and Hawaii on the same path as the floating debris in the ocean.
The experts have tried to remove the concerns of the Hawaiian and West Coast locals, saying that they do not need to fear radiation or debris in their local line ups – not in the near future at least.
Matt McClain, a spokesman for Surfrider Foundation, an organisation dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the globe’s oceans, waves and beaches, said, “Right now it doesn't look like that poses a big threat to the West Coast and Hawaii. If you're
surfing in Japan, obviously there's a big difference.”
He further added that the immediate area around Fukushima, the area in Japan which is home to not only the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex but also a prominent surf break, will remain out of bounds for a while.
According to Carl Safina, a marine conservationist, adjunct professor at Stony Brook University and President of the Blue Ocean Institute, the enormity of the Pacific Ocean and the huge time span will dilute much of the radiation. He explained that the radioactive
Iodine has a half-life of about eight days while Cesium’s half-life is about 30 years. While 50 perfect of the threat posed by the Iodine isotope will be eliminated in a week’s time, the Cesium’s concentration will also be substantially low by the time it
makes it reaches America.
International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) has recently released a report. According to the report, TEPCO is continuously monitoring radiation levels at various points of offshore from Japan. While the radiation level was four times the legal limit 18
miles off the coast from Fukushima on April 15, the fresh report reveals that the radiation level is continuously dropping.
While the words of experts and the recent report of IAEC indicate that the West Coast and Hawaii do not have anything to worry about, it will not be easy to convince the surfers. Sometimes scientific explanations are not enough to reduce the fear of Nature
in people’s hearts.
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