Pacific Spirit Marine Institute
Thursday, May 22, 2008
On May 14, KGET channel17in Bakersfield CA, reported another strange infestation of frogs. So many frogs in fact one couple in the Rosedale neighborhood said, “You’d see cars go by, and see them slinging up frogs like they were rocks.” KGET reports the forgs have literally spread out through this entire neighborhood.
On May 9, thousands of toads were spotted in Jiangsu province, in China. The picture is erriely simaler, except for the crowd on bicycles as that in the video I have posted about the frogs invading in bakersfield.
It is reported the same phenomenon was also noticed in some of the areas affected by the massive earthquake in China on May 13. There were similar toad stories throughout China in the days leading up to the devasting earthquake, Mianzhu, China being one.
It is also interesting to note that swarms of frogs or toads were reported before the 1989 Loma Prieta quake in California.
One geologist, Jim Berkland,has a 75% accuracy rate when it comes to predicting earthquakes. Berkland thinks animal behaviour is one of the key indicators of coming quakes. One thing he’s been tracking for decades is the number of lost pet entries in newspapers prior to events. The number of lost pets, cats especially seem to take a sharp curve upwards in the days just before an earthquake. Berkland also says high tides, floods. Reservoir water storage is another factor that contributes to seismic events. Dams are built to withstand the seismic potential the structures themselves pose to an area.
Check out this information on the 3 Gorges Dam project and the seismic research, precautions, and seismic supervision system in place to supervise an earthquake caused by the reservoir water storage that was set up before the water storage at the ‘Three Gorges Project.’ Really interesting information!
Labels: China, Frogs Bakersfield, Toads Bakersfield, earthquake, frogs, reservoir water storage seismic
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
If It Jumps Like A Toad, Croaks Like A Toad…it’s probably not a duck.
Friday, May 2, 2008
April 14, Robert Dziak, a geophysicist for NOAA said, more than 600 quakes he was listening to off the Oregon coast were unlike anything scientists have heard in the 17 years they have been listening to underwater rumbles.
On April 18, people in the normally ’stable’ Midwest were jolted out of bed with the strongest earthquake they’ve had in 40 years. That quake was felt as far away as Chicago. The quake centered just 40 miles outside of Evansville Indiana. The quake rattled people from Alabama to Michigan.
Since February, people in Reno have had their nerves tested with nearly 350 quakes. This pattern of quakes is also causing scientist to wonder what’s going on. Usually an earthquake is followed by a string of smaller aftershocks. In Reno the quakes have been building in strength. Tom Rennie, a seismic analyst with the Nevada Seismological Laboratory says no single fault line has been identified with these quakes.
Last night the Aleutian Islands were rocked by a hefty 6.5 earthquake. This area is no stranger to earthquakes, but after the past couple of months I’m wondering what our Mother Earth has in store for the coming months.
The U.S. is already standing on shaky ground metaphorically, now the earth is literally shaking under our feet. Stay tuned, and fasten your seat belts, we could be in for a bumpy ride.
Labels: Aleutian Islands, Mid-west, NOAA, Oregon Earthquake, Reno, earthquake
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
U.S. Standing on Shaky Ground; Literally! Unusual Earthquakes Rocking the U.S. As nerves and teeth rattle, scientists are baffled.
Monday, July 16, 2007
The leak was from unit 6 which is located at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. This unit was already closed by coincidence for maintenance.
Officials at TEPCO, (Asia’s biggest utility) “The contaminated water was released into the ocean and had had no effect on the environment.”
Let’s deconstruct that sentance. Contaminated water. Released ocean. No effect on environment. All-righty then.
After today’s earthquake in Japan I started wondering about nuclear waste being dumped into our oceans.
This isn’t a subject I had given a lot of thought to as I’ve always heard about the controversy surrounding the safe or unsafe containment of Nuclear waste was on land.
Yes, I’ve heard about nuclear powered ocean vessels rotting away in the far reaches of Russia, but I never considered that anyone, under any circumstances, would just drop this poison into the water intentionally…anywhere.
The US dumped an estimated 112,000 drums of nuclear waste into the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans before the Senate declared a moratorium on this bad behaviour in 1982. Of course and sadly, the US isn’t the only country guilty of dumping nuclear waste into the ocean.
Now a new scheme has been hatched. Nuclear waste would be packed in containers and shipped out to sea and then buried.
Greenpeace estimates there are 80 known ocean dump sites where nuclear waste is routinely dropped. This does not account for the millions of litres of radioactive waste being pumped into the ocean from nuclear processing plants.
The Oslo Convention negotiated in 1972 the first regional treaty to regulate the dumping of waste waters at sea. The nuclear industry blocked the inclusion of radioactive wastes within the jurisdiction of the convention. So, while it was deemed illegal to dump organic sewage sludge, dredging spoils and the like, it was perfectly fine to dump radio active waste. Later that same year the London Dumping Convention “high-level” radioactive waste dumping at sea was banned.
Who do we supposed was left to define what was meant by ‘high-level’ waste?
Yes of course… The International Atomic energy Agency! That was too easy wasn’t it?
By the way, that earthquake in Japan? The early official word is, just over 1 liter of radio active water was lost into the ocean. I think I relieved myself of that much liquid after I woke up this morning. Seems like a really small amount. We’ll keep an eye on later numbers.
This of couse was a horrible event and we mean in no way to diminish the loss of life that has occured there. We wish those impacted solace.
Labels: Japan, Nuclear waste, Ocean, Sea, USA, earthquake, radioactive
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
Earthquake in Japan: 1.5 liters of radioactive water released into sea. No damage done to environment!
