Japan's tsunami was 132 feet tall

How big was the Japanese tsunami this year? Reseachers now say 132.5 feet, or 40 meters. Wow. That's the biggest tsunami ever to hit Japan, and bigger than the tsunami that devastated coastlines around Indonesia in 2004.

As if that's not big enough, the largest tsunami ever was 1,720 feet (524 meters), trigerred by a rock and ice fall in a small inlet in Alaska in 1958. Yikes. That's taller than the Empire State Building in New York.

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Radioactive fish in Japan-part 2

The seafood nightmare just got worse. Radioactive cesium 137 has been found at harmful levels in fish in Japan. This element has a half-life of 30 years, so this contamination won't dissapate quickly like short-lived radioactive iodine.

This is probably coming from the highly radioactive water spilling from the damaged reactors.

According to PanOrient News:

Fisheries minister Michihiko Kano said later in the day that the government intends to toughen inspections of marine products in Ibaraki and increase the number of inspections off Choshi, Chiba Prefecture, in light of the continuing leaks of radioactive materials into the Pacific Ocean from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Private companies are taking matters into their own hands. I just happended to notice this press release from Royal Greenland:

During the current events in Japan, there have been some concerns about the safety of food stuffs from this area. We are monitoring the situation in Japan closely, including the hazard of contamination of our raw materials that come from or transit in this area.

The raw material currently used in our factories have been caught, processed and shipped before the catastrophic events occurred. Fish caught, processed or shipped in this area of the world after the 11th of March 2011 will only be handled at our factories after satisfying results of relevant analyses. Current goods on stock are exclusively taken from 2010 catches. We will submit to international requirements for controlling and analyzing of the quality in general of our goods and raw material.

This means that all products from the Pacific or stocked goods from Japan will be thoroughly analyzed before sales and we are in constant dialogue with the relevant authorities regarding the situation.

How long will it be before Royal Greenland will open the doors again for seafood from the region? I wonder what other seafood companies are doing.

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Radioactive fish in Japan

The radioactive seafood nightmare is beginning. Radioactive fish were found today in Japan.

Harmful levels of radioactive iodine were found in sand lance, small fish that feed on plankton. Later, larger predatory fish will acquire radioactivity from eating smaller fish.

Radioactive iodine has a half-life of 8 days, meaning it loses radioactivity quickly. More worrisome are the longer-lasting radioactive elements likely to show up later if releases of radioactive water continue. Stay tuned.

From SeafoodSource.com:

About 20,000 metric tons of low-level contaminated waste water is being released from holding ponds at each of two reactors owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) to make room for more highly contaminated water, as the company struggles to cool overheating fuel rods.

Plankton and small fishes that are low on the foodchain, like the sand lance, are expected to be affected first. As larger fish consume these smaller fish, the substances may become concentrated; however, unlike the case of mercury, the radiation will dissipate over time. Radioactive iodine has a half-life of eight days, and if the problems at the reactor can be solved it should not pose a long-term hazard to human health.

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Tsunami wipes out Japan's whaling?

Is whaling finished in Japan now that the tsunami wiped away infrastructure and perhaps the will to rebuild this beleaguered industry? People from small coastal whaling towns are reacting with shock and horror to the damage, and some don't see a future.

Japan's whaling industry was already reeling before the tsunami, so perhaps it's time to let go.

But others vow to continue whaling and the government of Japan is not pleased about newspaper stories predicting the industry's demise. Indeed, there's another side to the industry beyond the traditional and cultural relevance that keeps Japan going after whales.

The big distant-water boats that fish in the southern Oceans are government-run, and at least some of them are undamaged because they were out at sea when the tsunami struck. There are plenty more battles to be fought before all Japanese whaling stops. One sticky reason for Japan's persistence might be the cushy jobs for bureaucrats that the whaling industry generates.

Besides that, there are the international precedents that would be set if Japan caves in to foreign demands to stop whaling. What comes next, cutbacks in tuna fishing? Reduced access for Japan's fleets to other resources?

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Plutonium leak from Japanese reactor

It's not a health risk--yet--but it's a sign of more bad things to come. Plutonium has been found in the soil outside the broken Japanese reactor. It shouldn't be there, so some very bad things must have happened. Basically, somehow reactor fuel has escaped outside the containment structures.

Traces of plutonium hint at worse problems to come. According to an expert:

"We don't need to worry about its effect on our health at this stage. But the fact that highly radioactive water leaked down to the foundation of the reactor building is shocking."

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Our radioactive ocean

Radioactive iodine is now at scary levels in the ocean near Japan's broken reactors. But we're advised not to worry because the area has been evacuated and fishing has been stopped.

Also, radioactive iodine will decay quickly and become non-radioactive iodine (this is true).

What this doesn't tell us is whether other radioactive elements that last longer are also leaking. One expert says that more releases are likely because it appears that one reactor core has suffered a meltdown.

I think we should expect more bad news about our radioactive ocean, including some elements that are more worrying than iodine.

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Our radioactive ocean

We humans have put a lot of radiocative material in the ocean over the last few decades. Here's a brief summary, thanks to Deep Blue Home

Once we learned how to make bombs and reactors, we played with them like unknowing toddlers, spewing waste and fallout all over the world's oceans. So we do have some idea how Japan's leaking reactors can affect our oceans. We can expect radioactive fish, etc. And radioactive spinach, and radioactive water, and radioactive.....

My personal link is eating salmon from the Columbia River during the period when releases from the Hanford Nuclear site were getting into the fish. Do I still have a bit in me? Who knows?

Does any of this matter? Only time will tell. So far, radioactivity levels are fairly low--only a thousand times normal in the sea near the reactor--but that may change.

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Seafood crisis in Japan

Seafood demand is down in Japan, way down. "The fish are here, but nobody's buying," says one fish seller about business at the Tsukiji auction, Japan's premier fish market.

Tsukiji is normally a busy city, with some 60,000 workers, but prices have plunged by up to 50% for some seafood products.

"The drop in demand from sushi restaurants and the cancellation of weddings and banquets at hotels are partly to blame," an official of the market's marine and agricultural produce section said.

Radiation fears are also a problem according to mysinchew.com:

Food safety fears have risen since radiation from the coastal Fukushima plant has been detected in vegetables and dairy products grown nearby, and after iodine levels in Tokyo tap water rose above levels safe for infants.

There has been no official warning about the impact on marine life, but operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday that iodine-131 levels in the ocean near the plant were 145 times the legal level, Kyodo News reported.

Japan's seafood world is reeling, and the outcome is far from clear. The problems will likely persist for some time. The biggest long-term risk may be the radiation scare that already has some seafood buyers scared (see photo above of a chef screening imported seafood for radioactivity).

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Nuclear reactor crisis in simple terms

Japan tries to explain the nuclear reactor crisis to kids. What do you think?

… Japanese artist Kazuhiko Hachiya has made a cartoon to help ease the small minds of the nation. “Nuclear Boy” chronicles Fukushima’s reactor cracks and radiation leaks in a way that’s easily relatable to kids:

The nuclear power plant has a tummy ache, and we’re trying to make sure it’s not going to take a great big poop all over the country.

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Radiation fears? Civil society steps up

Here's an amazing website that shows radiation measurements taken around the world, designed to help display the radiation problems caused by the Japanese reactor crisis.

Active people responding to a crisis...quickly...when an information vacuum is scary. Go see for yourself, at rdtn.org

Thank you rdtn.org!

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How an earthquake spawns a tsunami

Watch the birth of a tsunami (video clip below) from a subduction zone earthquake. This scenario is similar to the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Then watch it spread ominously outward in the open water and start hunting for land.



Hat tip: juliawhitty

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Tsunami wave model 11 March 2011

Amazing, watch the animation:

Hat tip: Deep Blue Home

Julia, how do you find such great stuff??

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Japan's whale hunt suspended

Sea Shepherd harassed Japan's whale hunters, and the whale hunt is now suspended. I wonder what comes next?

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japanese view on eating tuna to extinction

Are Japanese consumers responsible for eating bluefin tuna towards extinction? What should be done? Here's a view from Japan that includes the most comprehensive and reliable examination of the issues that I've ever seen in a newspaper.

Overall, Japan's sushi habit is a problem for tuna, but the Japan Times article says that increasing popularity of sushi elsewhere, including China, is letting Japan "off the hook."

Suggestions for what to do center on shifting consumer preferences in Japan to yellowfin tuna, the best substitute and a fish that has some problems but is in better shape overall than bluefin.

Take a look at this story from "the World's Window on Japan."

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The fish worth more than your house

A bluefin tuna sold for $396,000 this week, a record price. Caught off the north coast of Hokkaido with a longline, the fish was sold at auction in Tokyo to high-end sushi restaurants.

Is this a valuable fish or just costly advertising? Does it prove that bluefin are going extinct? Note that this is not the Atlantic bluefin that has been much in the news over the last year. Northern Pacific bluefin are doing better and do not appear to be in immediate danger.

Like Copper River salmon, the hype about this high-priced tuna is all about hype and not about fish and seafood. But it's working since lots of seafood people are talking about this fish.

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EU flip-flops, supports overfishing of bluefin tuna

After pretending to be the saviors of bluefin tuna, the EU is now the leading voice pushing for overfishing of bluefin tuna. This embarassing change of position happened thanks to a push by Europe's fishing nations.

It's ironic that the EU proposed a ban on trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna through CITES as a way to protect the species, but now the EU refuses to stop overfishing of bluefin tuna. Maybe the real reason is that the trade ban would mostly hurt Japan which trades for the fish, but the fishing controls would hurt the EU because they CATCH a lot of bluefin tuna.

The EU's flip-flop was led by France, Spain, Italy and Malta, according to news reports.

Disappointed by the EU's failure to fish bluefin tuna sustainably, Masanori Miyahara, Chief Counselor of Japan's Fisheries Agency says "Japan will take leadership in the meeting to ensure the recovery of the stock."

So Europe is now taking a back seat to Japan in conserving bluefin tuna in Europe's backyard?! How embarassing for Europe to be rebuked by the great bluefin tuna conservationists from Japan. How will the EU talk their way out of this one?

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Poop for the planet

What's the latest in eco-friendly habits. This just in from Japan, an airline suggests that you deposit your poop in an airport toilet before boarding your flight.

All Nippon Airways, the airliine I flew from Tokyo back to Paris, suggests

"This flight is a so-called 'eFlight.' The idea behind the operation is to think about the Earth in the sky above. Fuel reduction by lightening the weight of the aircraft will lead to restrain the carbon dioxide emission, which is one of the causes of global warming. Thank you for your understanding."

"Asking passengers to go to the toilet (before boarding) is just a small part of the program," said spokeswoman Megumi Tezuka, which includes using recycled paper cups and plastic bottles instead of glass. "We are making these items lighter -- and making the passengers lighter, a little bit," Tezuka said.

Does it help? The airline estimates that if 50 percent of passengers relieved themselves before boarding, it would reduce carbon dioxide by 4.2 tons a month.

Japan seems to have a much better grasp on poop and pooping than I'm used to seeing. Take a look at this high-tech toilet, a common sight in Japan. It has a bum wash option. Pushing the little bum shower button sends a stream of water to wash your bum after pooping, just in case things got messy. If you prefer, you can press the warm water button and voila, the bum wash is nicely heated to body temperature, to eliminate the cool shock you might otherwise feel. Yes, of course I tried it...not bad.

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Who's to blame for bluefin tuna problems?

Japan's Fisheries Agency says that it's unfair to blame Japan for the disappearance of Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna. Masanori Miyahara, the charming (yes, I can attest to that) leader of Japan's Fisheries Agency said the west and ENGOs unfairly blamed "Japan's huge stomach" while ignoring the failure of western fishery managers to control fishing.

Is it unfair to focus blame on those who ate the vanishing bluefin? Is Miyahara correct in saying that blame also belongs on those who caught the fish and the asleep-at-the-wheel western managers who looked the other way while the fish were caught?

I have to admit that I think it's unfair to blame only Japan for the plight of bluefin, and I said so at WWF's tuna symposium in Tokyo yesterday. European managers and fishing fleets were quite happy to make piles of money catching the fish and selling them to Japan. Can they then turn around and blame Japan for making them catch the fish? I think managers and tuna consumers have to share the blame for disappearing bluefin.

But the real question is what comes next. At the next management meeting, in Paris in November, we'll see who are the friends of bluefin, and who are the false friends who talk nice but slaughter the fish.

Perhaps we should follow here on blogfish the lead-up to the next decisive meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, cutely known as the International Commission for Catching All the Tuna.

And now it's time to get on a plane back to Europe, and time to sort through those Tsukiji photos. Did you know that sushi restaurants near Tsukiji are packed and hopping at 7:00 am? And that the staff are relentlessly cheerful?

That's a much better showing than the American college baseball players staying in my hotel. A group of 4 of them in an elevator told some departing Japanese players "hey, we're going to Outback and our food will taste better than whatever you're going to eat." Maybe...but the Japanese players probably have more brain cells and much higher quality synapses. Can you spell "ugly American?" Probably not if you're going to Outback in Tokyo tonight, with the other options available.

Good thing I'm from Switzerland.

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Tuna conservation in Japan

Saving bluefin tuna in Japan. An unlikely goal? Never mind, WWF Japan is tackling the challenge. This week's events began with a press conference in Tokyo's Foreign Press Center (photo of venue, right). It was well-attended, one and a half hours long, and it featured many good questions from media based all over the world. I was present speaking for WWF International.

Next, a day-long symposium devoted to the tough issues of the biological and political status of Atlantic bluefin tuna (photo at left). Attendees included Masanori Miyahara, the Chief Counselor of the Fisheries Agency of Japan and Japan's head delegate to ICCAT and other international management bodies. He had some tough words for WWF and other critics of Japan. WWF representatives responded in a lively dialogue.

Press and consumers in attendance asked many probing questions, and the consumer outreach effort by WWF Japan has begun in earnest. Again, I was present on behalf of WWF International, and I had the opportunity to answer criticism that WWF is merely the voice of European views, unfairly blaming Japan. More later on the remarks of Miyahara-san and the discussion. Here's one news article from the Japan Times.

Then, a highlight of the visit, Tsukiji Fish Market. I have many photos to sort through and share, hopefully soon. Right in front of us was a 300 kg bluefin tuna ready for auction, and many other big tuna. Finally, breakfast in a Tsukiji sushi restaurant, lively already at 7am, featuring salmon eggs and more. What a great trip so far. Tokyo is interesting, our hosts from WWF Japan were indefatigable and gracious, and it's rewarding to tackle the big challenges of winning some support in Japan for bluefin tuna conservation.

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$100,000 tuna

That's a pile of money for a fish, no wonder bluefin tuna are vanishing.

At the first auction of the year in Tokyo, two restaurant owners shared the prize tuna at a cost of $100,000 for the 280 pound fish. And that's not even the all-time record, in 2001 a 450 pound bluefin sold for $219,000 which is nearly $500 per pound. That's an expensive fish.

The writeup in the Wall Street Journal failed to mention the sad fact that these fantastic prices are driving bluefin tuna close to extinction. I guess they're too busy worrying about vanishing investment banks.

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