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Author Topic: Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists  (Read 8033 times)

Offline zorgon

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Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists
« on: August 14, 2012, 10:07:57 pm »
Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists

Here we go... first reports coming in...


Nothing to worry about -- all fine here -- move along please

Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists
AFP | 17 hours ago

TOKYO: Genetic mutations have been found in three generations of butterflies from near Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, scientists said Tuesday, raising fears radiation could affect other species.


Quote
Around 12 per cent of pale grass blue butterflies that were exposed to nuclear fallout as larvae immediately after the tsunami-sparked disaster had abnormalities, including smaller wings and damaged eyes, researchers said.

The insects were mated in a laboratory well outside the fallout zone and 18 per cent of their offspring displayed similar problems, said Joji Otaki, associate professor at Ryukyu University in Okinawa, southwestern Japan.

That figure rose to 34 per cent in the third generation of butterflies, he said, even though one parent from each coupling was from an unaffected population.

The researchers also collected another 240 butterflies in Fukushima in September last year, six months after the disaster. Abnormalities were recorded in 52 per cent, which was “a dominantly high ratio”, Otaki told AFP.

Otaki said the high ratio could result from both external and internal exposure to radiation from the atmosphere and in contaminated foodstuffs.

The results of the study were published in Scientific Reports, an online research journal from the publishers of Nature.

Otaki later carried out a comparison test in Okinawa exposing unaffected butterflies to low levels of radiation, with the results showing similar rates of abnormality, he said.

“We have reached the firm conclusion that radiation released from the Fukushima Daiichi plant damaged the genes of the butterflies,” Otaki said.

The quake-sparked tsunami of March 2011 knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, causing three reactors to go into meltdown in the world’s worst atomic disaster for 25 years.

The findings will raise fears over the long-term effects of the leaks on people who were exposed in the days and weeks after the accident, as radiation spread over a large area and forced thousands to evacuate.

There are claims that the effects of nuclear exposure have been observed on successive generations of descendants of people living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the US dropped atomic bombs in the final days of World War II.

But Otaki warned it was too soon to jump to conclusions, saying his team’s results on the Fukushima butterflies could not be directly applied to other species, including humans.

He added he and his colleagues would conduct follow-up studies including similar tests on other animals.

Kunikazu Noguchi, associate professor in radiological protection at Nihon University School of Dentistry, also said more data was needed to determine the impact of the Fukushima accident on animals in general.

“This is just one study,” Noguchi said. “We need more studies to verify the entire picture of the impact on animals.” Researchers and medical doctors have so far denied that the accident at Fukushima would cause an elevated incidence of cancer or leukaemia, diseases that are often associated with radiation exposure.

But they also noted that long-term medical examination is needed especially due to concerns over thyroid cancer among young people — a particular problem for people following the Chernobyl catastrophe.

“There are a number of unknown factors surrounding the genetic impact of radiation,” said Makoto Yamada, a medical doctor who examines Fukushima residents. “We still cannot 100 per cent deny that the impact may come out in the future.” No one is officially recorded as having died as a direct result of the Fukushima disaster, but many who fled the area and those who remain, including workers decommissioning the crippled plant, worry about the long-term effects.

Scientists have warned it could be decades before it is safe for some people to return to their homes.

“Even if there is no impact now, we have to live with fear,” said Sachiko Sato, a mother of two, who temporarily fled from Fukushima. “And concerns will be handed down to my children and grandchildren.”

Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies


Offline zorgon

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Re: Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2012, 10:10:20 pm »
Mutated butterflies found near Fukushima
August 14, 2012 at 8:35 am by dan.mcgraw@chron.com (Dan X. McGraw)



A mutated adult pale grass blue (Zizeeria maha) butterfly from Fukushima. (Photo: Handout)

Quote
Researchers found dozens of mutated butterflies near the site of the nuclear accident in Fukushima, prompting officials to say it’s the first sign of damage to the ecosystem.

According to NBC News, researcher Joji Otaki of the University of Ryukyus found mutation in roughly 12 percent of 144 commonly-found pale grass blue butterflies collected two months after the March 2011 disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Even more alarming, researcher said the mutation increased to 28 percent six months later and more than 50 percent of the offspring showed some signs of mutation.

Researchers said the butterflies have disfigured antennas, smaller-sized wings, indented eyes and different color patterns, NBC News reported.

“Since we’ve seen these effects on butterflies, it’s easy to imagine that it would also have affected other species as well,” Otaki said. “It’s pretty clear that something has gone wrong with the ecosystem.”

A group of five nuclear plants suffered damage after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake knocked out power and a tsunami flooded back up generators at the plants. The lack of power allowed for three reactors to overheat, releasing radiation into the surrounding area.

Mutated butterflies found near Fukushima

Offline zorgon

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Re: Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2012, 10:15:28 pm »
Fukushima caused mutant butterflies
Tuesday, 14 August 2012
Agençe France-Presse




Quote
TOKYO: Genetic mutations have been found in three generations of butterflies from near Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, scientists said, raising fears radiation could affect other species.

Around 12% of pale grass blue butterflies (Zizeeria maha) that were exposed to nuclear fallout as larvae immediately after the tsunami-sparked disaster had abnormalities, including smaller wings and damaged eyes, researchers said.

The insects were bred in a laboratory outside the fallout zone and 18% of their offspring displayed similar problems, said Joji Otaki, associate professor at Ryukyu University in Okinawa, southwestern Japan.

The figure rose to 34% in the third generation of butterflies, he said, even though one parent from each coupling was from an unaffected population.

Fukushima caused mutant butterflies
Pale grass blue butterfly (Zizeeria maha). Credit: Wikimedia

Offline burntheships

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Re: Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2012, 11:15:06 pm »
Let us hope that The Butterfly Effect is not
what we fear it could be.

Supposedly we borrowed trouble thinking about months
ago, now they admit its true.

 :(
"This is the Documentary Channel"
- Zorgon

Offline biggles

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Re: Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2012, 11:44:27 pm »

And that's one species, there will probably be more.  What about any fish in the sea.

Why can't there by fresh, nice, green alternatives that dont breed mutated life forms. :(
« Last Edit: August 15, 2012, 12:31:09 am by zorgon »
I know that I know nothing - thanks Capricorn.

Offline zorgon

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Re: Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists
« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2012, 12:33:38 am »
Well, several weeks after the blast, Kelp seaweed was tainted of California. And Kelp seaweed is the organic crowd's answer to potassium iodide pills.  But if those Kelp beds now contain that radioactive iodine...

uh huh  no worries :D

{{{Zorgon HATES seaweed :P }}}
« Last Edit: August 15, 2012, 03:00:10 am by thorfourwinds »

deuem

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Re: Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2012, 12:48:40 am »
I feel a Godzilla coming soon!  As reality plays fiction so well! Some reptile is now munching on that seaweed.
 
Forgot to add, they serve seaweed soup here and I have to go with Zorgon on this one. No worries for me!

Offline thorfourwinds

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Re: Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2012, 03:02:50 am »
I feel a Godzilla coming soon!  As reality plays fiction so well! Some reptile is now munching on that seaweed.
 
Forgot to add, they serve seaweed soup here and I have to go with Zorgon on this one. No worries for me!


EARTH AID is dedicated to the creation of an interactive multimedia worldwide event to raise awareness about the challenges and solutions of nuclear energy.

Cosmic4life

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Re: Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists
« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2012, 03:21:26 am »
It's like watching a slow motion Train Wreck isn't it...

Just waiting for the cooling pond up on Reactor 4 to topple over ...shouldn't be too long now.

C..

Offline thorfourwinds

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Re: Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists
« Reply #9 on: August 15, 2012, 03:32:29 am »
Ummmmm....

dinner




EARTH AID is dedicated to the creation of an interactive multimedia worldwide event to raise awareness about the challenges and solutions of nuclear energy.

Offline zorgon

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Re: Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists
« Reply #10 on: August 15, 2012, 03:34:19 am »
Ummmmm....  dinner




[youtube]EytotH8BENI[/youtube]

sky otter

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Re: Fukushima disaster caused mutant butterflies: scientists
« Reply #11 on: August 15, 2012, 10:25:34 am »


here add these to the large size critter list
and others

reasons to stay out of the water.....
:o


Foot-long cannibal shrimp roaming the Gulf of Mexico? RYAN GORMAN
Friday, June 15, 2012

There's a new predator prowling the Gulf of Mexico and south Atlantic coastlines -- giant cannibal shrimp.

Asian Tiger shrimp that can grow to a foot long and weigh upwards of one pound are being sighted more frequently and experts are worried they will wipe out native shrimp populations.

"They are more aggressive shrimp than native shrimp and then tend to feed more actively," David Knott, who is a member of the South Atlantic Regional Panel's Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, told The Times-Picayune.

The black and white striped shrimp have begun to concern experts from North Carolina to Texas, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.


"We can confirm there was nearly a tenfold jump in reports of Asian Tiger shrimp in 2011," USGS biologist Pam Fuller is quoted as saying on NOAA's website, ""And they are probably even more prevalent than reports suggest, because the more fisherman and other locals become accustomed to seeing them, the less likely they are to report them."

Fuller runs NOAA's nonindigenous aquatic species database. She is part of a team of people studying how the Tiger Shrimp's high growth and spawning rates will affect local ecosystems.

"The Asian Tiger shrimp represents yet another potential marine invader capable of altering fragile marine ecosystems," NOAA marine ecologist James Morris said on the agency's site.

The lobster-sized shrimp are edible, reports NOLA.com, there may even be a domestic market for them.

The monster shrimp eat almost anything in their path. They eat crustaceans, small crabs, shrimp, mollusks and oysters, reports The Times Picayune.

"In the bayou right here, they caught two of them," Kim Chauvin, owner of David Chauvin's Seafood, told NOLA.com, "it's not just in the gulf."

The tiger shrimp are believed to have broken free from a shrimp farm in the Caribbean Sea of the coast of the Dominican Republic during a hurricane in 2005 and rode currents to the gulf, according to The Times Picayune.

The giant shrimp are native to Asian and Australian coasts in the Pacific Ocean. They were first seen in American waters in 1988 off the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. They were not seen again until a fisherman caught one in the Mississippi Sound in 2006, reports NOAA.

NOAA asks anyone who sights a tiger shrimp to contact the USGS, freeze the catch and donate it to Fuller's study.

NOAA has not designated tiger shrimp an established species in U.S. waters yet, scientists are not sure whether currents are carrying them in or if they are actually breeding, reports the agency's site. Scientists are going to begin studying their DNA with the hope of determining their origin.
 

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-06-15/news/32258968_1_tiger-shrimp-noaa-native-shrimp

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arKqAjIcRz4[/youtube]

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Largest ever Burmese python snake caught in Florida

The largest Burmese python ever found in Florida has been caught in the Everglades, scientists said on Tuesday, and it contained 87 eggs – also thought to be a record.
"This thing is monstrous, it's about a foot wide," Kenneth Krysko, the herpetology collection manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said of the 17-foot-7-inch (5.35-metre) creature.

Scientists at the University of Florida-based museum examined the 164.5-pound (74.5-kilogram) snake on Friday as part of a government research project into managing the pervasive effect of Burmese pythons in Florida.

The giant snakes – native to southeast Asia and first found in the Everglades in 1979 – prey on native birds, deer, bobcats, alligators and other large animals.

With no known natural predator, population estimates for the Burmese python in Florida range from the thousands to hundreds of thousands.

They were classed as an established species in 2000 and are a significant concern given their numbers, longevity and prolific ability to breed.

"It means these snakes are surviving a long time in the wild," Krysko said, noting the importance of finding such a large example of the species. "There's nothing stopping them and the native wildlife are in trouble."

A rapid surge in numbers has led to recent state laws prohibiting people from owning Burmese pythons as pets or transporting the snakes across state lines without a federal permit.

Florida also allows residents to hunt pythons in wildlife management areas during established seasons under a licensing system.

"They were here 25 years ago, but in very low numbers and it was difficult to find one because of their cryptic behaviour," Krysko said.

"Now, you can go out to the Everglades nearly any day of the week and find a Burmese python. We've found 14 in a single day."

Krysko said the stomach of the giant python contained bird feathers that researchers will be able to identify.


 


"By learning what this animal has been eating and its reproductive status, it will hopefully give us insight into how to potentially manage other wild Burmese pythons in the future," he said.

Skip Snow, an Everglades National Park wildlife biologist, said analysis of the snake would aid efforts to stop the future spread of invasive species.

"There are not many records of how many eggs a large female snake carries in the wild," Snow said. "This shows they're a really reproductive animal, which aids in their invasiveness."

Following scientific investigation, the snake will be mounted for exhibition at the museum and then returned to be put on display at Everglades National Park.

Source: AFP
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/9474255/Largest-ever-Burmese-python-snake-caught-in-Florida.html

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3Bf0WhvsNk[/youtube]


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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmU7etSYYqI[/youtube]


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oh and another problem..gm fish..holy macerel batman

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO97VnXAM84[/youtube]

 


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