Mon 11 December 2023:
A strange incident occurred on a beach in Hakodate, on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, triggering conspiracy theories tied to the country’s Fukushima nuclear power plant, which made headlines after treated water from it was dumped into the Pacific Ocean.
Experts are scrambling to determine the cause behind this unusual phenomenon.
According to Japan Today, Takashi Fujioka, a Hakodate Fisheries Research Institute researcher, said he had heard of similar phenomena before, but it was his first time seeing it.
”One possible cause is that the school of fish was chased by a larger fish, became exhausted, and was washed up by the waves. Another possible cause is that the school of fish entered cold waters during their migration and were then washed ashore. But details are uncertain,” Mr Fujioka suggested.
While the exact reason remains unknown, speculation has arisen, with some pointing fingers at the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant.
In October, this year Japan released a second batch of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, an exercise that angered China and others. On August 24, Japan began discharging into the Pacific some of the 1.34 million tonnes of wastewater that has been collected since 2011. The Fukushima power plant was wrecked after an earthquake and resultant tsunami in March 2011.
In the first phase around 7,800 tonnes of water were released into the Pacific out of a planned total of 1.34 million tonnes, equivalent to more than 500 Olympic swimming pools.
China banned all Japanese seafood imports after the first release, which ended on September 11, despite Tokyo’s insistence that the operation poses no risk. China also accused Japan of using the ocean like a “sewer”.
Takashi Fujioka, a researcher at the Hakodate Fisheries Research Institute, shared insights into the peculiar incident, stating, “One possible cause is that the school of fish was chased by a larger fish, became exhausted, and was washed up by the waves. Another possible cause is that the school of fish entered cold waters during their migration and were then washed ashore. But details are uncertain.”
Fujioka, cautioning against consuming the stranded fish, said, “We don’t know for sure under what circumstances these fish were washed up, so I do not recommend eating them.”
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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