Japanese monkeys in Fukushima Prefecture show the effects of radiation from the meltdown of the The fallout led the Japanese government to evacuate residents from a highly contaminated area surrounding the plant and extending to the northwest.
Because he was already studying the monkeys, he was ideally positioned to notice changes affected by radiation exposure. He compared his findings to monkeys in the same area before and to a control population of monkeys in Shimokita Peninsula, miles to the north.
Among his findings:. Blue triangles represent monkeys born before. Blue triangles represent the head size of pre-disaster monkey fetuses relative to their height Red circles represent post-disaster monkey fetuses. Anemia — The monkeys show a reduction in all blood components: red blood cells, white blood cells, hemoglobin, and the cells in bone marrow that produce blood components. Monkeys with higher concentrations of radioactive cesium in their muscles, to the right on the So we have to say this is not an acute phenomenon.
It has become chronic, and we would have to consider radiation exposure as a possible cause," Hayama said. And then the nuclear disaster struck," he said, his remarks also translated by Field. Since then he has made five films, one each year, documenting radiation impacts on wildlife, grouping them under the title " Fukushima: A Record of Living Things.
It probably doesn't hurt the bird to have some white feathers, but it's a marker of exposure to radiation. The young birds are not surviving. They are not fledging very well. The white spots also turned up on black cows. Some types of marine snails vanished, then gradually returned. Fir trees stemmed differently, and the flower stalks of some dandelions grew thick and deformed.
