No Signs of Ocean-Borne Radiation from Japan in California Kelp Forests--Yet

There's some good news for the U.S. West Coast. It turns out that there are no signs of ocean-borne radiation from Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in kelp samples, which may mean that officials can finally put fears to rest.

Kelp beds can be effective detectors of radioactive seawater arriving from Fukushima. In this case, researchers from Kelp Watch 2014, an initiative to monitor radiation using kelp, collected samples from Feb. 24 through March 14. They then analyzed samples taken from 38 of the 44 sites originally identified.

"Our data does not show the presence of Fukushima radioisotopes in West Coast Giant Kelp or Bull Kelp," said Steven Manley, one of the researchers, in a news release. "These results should reassure the public that our coastline is safe, and that we are monitoring it for these materials. At the same time, these results provide us with a baseline for which we can compare samples gathered later in the year."

The researchers were most concerned with samples to the north, which is where it's estimated that the radioactive water will first make contact. Yet the tell-tale isotopoic signature of Fukushima, Cs-134, was not seen. While these results are promising, though, it could just mean that the seawater simply hasn't arrived yet.

"Because the Pacific Northwest may be ground zero for its arrival, we will be receiving monthly samples from the west and southern coastline of Vancouver Island (Canada)," said Manley in a news release. "One of the goals of Kelp Watch 2014 is to keep the public informed, to let them know we are on top of this event, and to document the amount of Fukushima radiation that enters our kelp forest ecosystem."

The findings are just the first of several sampling periods scheduled. The next one is set for early July.

Want to find out more? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube.