Effects of the Nuclear Radiation Leakage into Japanese Seaways

As we all know, Japan has been turned upside down by the tragic events that have occurred the past few weeks. To quickly explain what happened, a massive tsunami struck Japan leaving a trail of devastation on land. But not only did devastation occur on land, the tsunami also directly effected marine life. Due to the tsunami hit, Fukushima, a nuclear power plant has overheated leading to a massive leakage of radiation into Japanese seaways. This radiation as experts have said will lead to the deaths of large amounts of marine life and also cause there to be mutations among the marine life. Though to date, the radiation levels have not reached a high enough level to truly impact large amounts of marine life, the eggs and larvae are at risk. According to radio-ecologist F. Ward Whicker, 
 "Marine organisms' eggs and larvae are highly sensitive to radiation, since radioactive atoms can replace other atoms in their bodies, resulting in radiation exposure that could alter their DNA"

In impacting egg and larvae, the marine life in Japan could drastically change. Not only do the majority of larvae and eggs that are affected by radiation not survive, the radiation could also begin to alter the life span long term and DNA of the marine life. To further elaborate on the terrible impact that radiation is having, the overfishing of tuna and sailfish is also further damaging the marine life in connection with the radiation. With radiation leaking into the Pacific and the tuna sailfish already impacted by overfishing, the overall dimensions of marine life in Japan is going to drastically change.
To further add to the devastation many experts say that with the tsunami hitting land, it has led to large amounts of metals to leak into the Pacific. As one ecotoxicologist Ron Kendall says
"Previous studies have shown that metals can work in concert with radiation to suppress immune systems in vertebrates, making them more vulnerable to disease"
With the mix of metals and radiation, the Pacific is already greatly impacted but if the radiation leakage continues for the next few months not only with marine life be greatly impacted but so will human life.The impact that the radiation might have if it continues to leak is very drastic, life in the Pacific as we know it could change for the worse. 

This article in National Geographic connects to what we have discussed in the initial classes. Marine life mutation,overfishing and effects of radiation are all important topics that have been discussed in class and this article is an example of all these topics in everyday life. 


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110331-japan-radiation-health-mutations-nuclear-animals-ocean-science-world/