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TV: 'Mysterious die off of young salmon' in Pacific Northwest — 'Healthy… and then they die' heading out to sea — 'Far less plankton than normal… There are too many questions' — Researchers now testing for plankton and Fukushima contamination off West Coast (VIDEO)
ENE News
KING5 News (Seattle), Aug 5, 2014: Salmon scientists zoom in on plankton [...] “We want to take a look at the plankton,” said Tribal field Crew Supervisor Nano Perez. For the first time, tribes, agencies and groups in Canada are giving plankton a serious look as part of the massive Salish Sea Marine Survival Project. The concern is the balance and supply of plankton could be off and that could be a possible factor in the mysterious die off of young salmon when they enter Puget Sound from their native rivers. Salmon eat plankton and so do the smaller fish that salmon also eat. [...] If there turns out to be a problem, then scientists can start looking for why it’s happening.
KING5 News Transcript, Aug 5, 2014: When they leave the rivers and enter Puget Sound, young salmon are healthy and hungry — and then they die. Scientists want to know if they’re starving.
North Pacific Dispatches, Lori Saldana, July 29, 2014: [My friend] coordinates research vessels out of Moss Landing, near Monterrey. He called to ask [...] want to volunteer on a research cruise? So… that’s where I will be for the next two weeks: aboard the R/V Point Sur, helping collect ocean water samples from the Bering Sea off Alaska and northern Pacific, as we cruise back to California.
Mercury, Cesium, Plankton and Whales, Lori Saldana, July 30, 2014: I completed my first 12 hour data collection work shift [...] we gather water samples and look for plankton and trace amounts of mercury and cesium- the first, a persistent and toxic pollutant, the second, a radiation marker linked to the Fukushima accident.
North Pacific Dispatches, Lori Saldana, Aug. 4. 2014: [T]his cruise is a bit different: fewer researchers than usual. We have only 15 people aboard, which is considered a skeleton crew [...] The first 36 hours we had research stations every 60-90 minutes [...] Now stations are 2-3 hours apart [...]
Published: August 6th, 2014 at 2:54 pm ET
By ENENews