All posts by dr.jonathan.kellogg

Biota, Coastal, Monitoring, Oceanic

August 2016 InFORMal Update

Leave a comment

Coastal monitoring:

We have now processed and released results from over 250 samples collected through the InFORM network! New data, from April and May samples, did not reveal any waters with the Fukushima fingerprint isotope, 134Cs (2 year half-life). Low levels of 137Cs (~30 year half-life) were present in all of the samples. These new data continue to lie along the increasing trend which indicates that the leading edge of the Fukushima plume is in BC’s coastal waters. Continue reading August 2016 InFORMal Update →

Cesium, Iodine, Marine Life, NE Pacific, Peer Reviewed

No Fukushima radiation found in 2016 Alaskan fish

2 Comments

Alaska Department of Environmental ConservationNo Fukushima contamination was found in any of the 7 fish Alaskan fish samples that were collected during February and March of 2016. The results, released on the Department of Environmental Conservation website, show that the herring, cod, and pollock sampled did not have any detectable levels of 131I, 134Cs (the Fukushima fingerprint radionuclide with a half-life of ~2 years) or 137Cs in the tissues.  These samples follow on their similar results from 2015 and are part of the network of institutions monitoring for Fukushima radiation in marine waters and seafoods. Continue reading No Fukushima radiation found in 2016 Alaskan fish →

InFORMing Research

CFCs: Noxious for ozone, but luminescent for ocean currents

Leave a comment

Scientists recently reported that the ozone hole over Antarctica is showing signs of healing. This wonderful news comes almost 20 years after the Montreal Protocol banned the production and use of clorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in 1987. The decline means that CFCs are finally dropping in concentration in the atmosphere and are either breaking down high in the stratosphere or going into the ocean. Biologically inert, the CFCs in the ocean don’t harm any marine life, but they have proven very useful for oceanographers trying to understand circulation in the deep ocean.  Continue reading CFCs: Noxious for ozone, but luminescent for ocean currents →

Monitoring, Oceanic

Cruising the Pacific 2016: Reflection

4 Comments

by Saskia Kowallik

It’s been roughly a week since I have been back on land, and I have (almost) completely adjusted back to the swing of things at home. Unfortunately, some technical difficulties prevented me from sending updates while I was at sea. That, and things got quite busy after we stopped in Dutch Harbour! Having taken and processed 33 of 39 samples in the Pacific, there were only six samples for me to take in the Bering Sea for the InFORM project. That being said, Tadpole challenges were kicked into high gear, and with the Distributed Biological Observatory scientists on board, stations and transects (groups of stations done consecutively, often in a line) began in earnest. I have been sworn to secrecy on the happenings of the Arctic Circle crossing, so although interesting stories did in fact come of that, I am unable to share them.

Continue reading Cruising the Pacific 2016: Reflection →

Monitoring, Oceanic

Cruising the Pacific 2016: Mid-cruise

3 Comments

by Saskia Kowallik

Checking in from what seems to be the middle of nowhere! Going out on deck is a surreal experience – nothing but grey swells and sky in all directions. As we were sampling today, we saw a brief glimpse of blue sky for the first time on this trip, and it was an occasion everyone in the science crew came out on deck for to see for themselves. Continue reading Cruising the Pacific 2016: Mid-cruise →