THIS WILL BE SHORT AND TO THE POINT. BLUNTLY, TEPCO HAS SCREWED UP ONCE AGAIN, IS OBVIOUSLY LYING YET AGAIN AND THE ABE REGIME MAY CREATE YET ANOTHER NEWS BLACKOUT TO HELP COVER UP THE COMPLETE INEPTITUDE OF ITS BUSINESS PARTNER TEPCO, 'DESTROYER OF WORLDS'.
ABE MAY SEE THE NEED TO PUT A LID ON THIS NEWS SO PEOPLE AREN'T WORRIED ABOUT WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IF THEY GO TO TOKYO FOR THE ALL-IMPORTANT GAMES.
THE TOKYO 2020 OLYMPICS ARE STILL ON. GET YOUR TICKETS WHILE THEY ARE NUCLEAR HOT.
ANYONE WHO REFUSES TO SEE THE ABJECT STUPIDITY AND REPEATED LIES BY BOTH THE ABE REGIME AND TEPCO SHOULD FIRST SEE A PROCTOLOGIST TO HAVE THEIR HEADS REMOVED FROM THEIR BEHINDS AND THEN A NEUROSURGEON TO SEE IF BRAIN TRANSPLANT IS POSSIBLE.
"Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO) on Thursday, FEB. 23, 2017, said that it had detected smoke billowing from a service room near two reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa (K-K) nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, located on the west coast of Honshu island.
TEPCO said that there was no radiation leak as a result of the possible fire which occurred close to its Sea of Japan-facing reactors, although the utility has yet to comment on the cause of the fire.
The plant operator said that it noticed smoke billowing out of a locker room inside the service building near its No. 6 and No. 7 reactors at the facility. It said the service building was not a radiation controlled area.
The two reactors close to the possible fire which occurred at some point before 3:25 p.m. local time are currently being screened by Japan's nuclear regulation authority as TEPCO is pushing for more of its plant's reactors to be brought back online.
However, TEPCO, operator of the Daiichi plant in Fukushima that underwent multiple meltdowns after being hit by an earthquake-triggered tsunami in 2011, resulting in the worst commercial nuclear disaster in history that has yet to be fully brought under control, has been involved in a number of monumental gaffes since the 2011 disaster.
Most recently, on Feb. 15, Japan's nuclear watchdog blasted the utility for providing an extensive amount of inaccurate information related to plans to restart the two reactors in Niigata.
TEPCO ADMITS THEY LIED. THEY KNOW THEIR BUSINESS PARTNER, THE ABE GOVERNMENT, WILL LET THEM GET AWAY WITH MURDER AND EVEN HELP THEM COMMIT MURDER. THEY'VE BEEN DOING SO FOR 6 MISERABLE YEARS NOW.
TEPCO admitted that it had submitted information from three years ago that contained inaccurate information about buildings at TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata.
The buildings were to be used as headquarters in case of an emergency.
Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) heard from TEPCO officials that one of the buildings failed to meet the regulator's earthquake resistance standards in all 7 tests required to be passed by the NRA.
The embattled utility said that the building had failed only 5 out of 7 of the NRA's tests and as a result told the regulator that was in the final stages of screening the No. 6 and 7 reactors that the building would not be used.
TEPCO said its gaffe at that time was due to a communication problem between departments, to which the NRA slammed the error as being unacceptable and demanded further details and for TEPCO to resolve its blunder.
The Japanese government has said it will likely continue its effective state ownership of TEPCO because the expected costs for decommissioning the Daiichi plant and paying compensation to the victims continue to escalate, with preventable oversights doing little to keep costs down or the timeframe for the decommissioning work."
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa has seven boiling water reactors (BWR) with a gross installed capacity of 8,212MW. IT OPENED IN 1985.
IT ISN'T THE FIRST TIME FIREMEN HAVE BEEN CALLED TO THE ENORMOUS NUKE PLANT. 2007: Kashiwazaki city was rocked by a 6.8-magnitude earthquake in July 2007. The epicentre was just 16 kilometres from the plant, where a fire started and a small amount of radiation leaked out. Local residents have voiced fears over the safety of the plant following a string of fires there as well as concerns raised by some geologists that an off-shore tectonic faultline could trigger stronger earthquakes in future.
AS THE NEW YORK TIMES REPORTED BACK THEN: "Japanese authorities suspended operation of a nuclear power plant on Tuesday after a radiation leak and other damage from a deadly earthquake raised new concerns about the safety of the nation’s accident-plagued nuclear industry.
Tokyo Electric Power, which operates the nuclear plant near Kashiwazaki, a city in northwestern Japan, said it had found more than 50 problems at the plant caused by the earthquake on Monday. While most were minor, the largest included 100 drums of radioactive waste that had fallen, opening the lids on some, the company said.
In March, another nuclear plant operator, Hokuriku Electric Power Company, shut down a reactor after admitting it had covered up a 15-minute uncontrollable nuclear chain reaction in 1999.
K-K AGAIN, BACK IN 2009, BEFORE FUKUSHIMA, "A worker at our company spotted smoke emerging from the brake of the hoisting function of a crane in a turbine room," the operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said in a statement. "We reported immediately to the fire station and used fire extinguishers and now the smoke has stopped." "There were no injuries nor any radiation leak" resulting from the incident in the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant, in Niigata prefecture, 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Tokyo, it said.
IT ALSO HAPPENED IN APRIL, 2011, AFTER FUKUSHIMA BLEW:.Radio Netherlands Worldwide There were no injuries but the cause of the smoke at the plant in coastal Niigata prefecture was not clear, Kyodo news said, citing Tokyo Electric Power Co. The incident occurred in the evening during the checking of water purification equipment at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear complex, the company was quoted as saying.
"According to Japan's public broadcaster NHK quoting a local official from the city of Niiza, close to the burning substation, the flames were first detected from power lines... Both the police and the firefighters have been dispatched to one of Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (TEPCO) facilities in Saitama Prefecture, just outside Tokyo, probing the cause of the incident at TEPCO's related sub-station."
Television footage showed plumes of dense black smoke billowing from a facility in the city of Niiza in Saitama prefecture. The fire caused the shutdown of two Tokyo Electric substations in Tokyo, Tokyo Electric spokeswoman Chisato Aoki said by phone.
"Starting in the mid-1990s there were several nuclear related accidents and cover-ups in Japan, principally by TEPCO, that eroded public perception of the industry, resulting in anti-nuclear protests and resistance to new plants. While exact details may be in dispute, it is clear that the safety culture in Japan's nuclear industry has come under greater scrutiny."
WHICH HAS DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO STOP THE JAPANESE NUKE MADNESS.
AS BLOOMBERG REPORTED IN 2000: Three TEPCO executives were forced to quit after the company in 1989 ordered an employee to edit out footage showing cracks in nuclear plant steam pipes in video being submitted to regulators.
WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR THE WORLD TO DEMAND JAPAN CEASE AND DESIST FROM PURSUING EVEN ONE NUCLEAR FACILITY?
IT HAS BEEN CONTINUAL NEAR-DISASTER EVER SINCE THEY BUILT THE FIRST NUKE PLANT THERE.
IF FUKUSHIMA HAS TAUGHT US NOTHING, THEN MAYBE WE DESERVE WHAT WE GET BY RELYING IN ANY WAY ON NUCLEAR ENERGY.
Iodine-131, a man-made radioactive material, is being found in small amounts across the continent. It was found in northern Norway early in January, according to officials, but has been gradually moving across the rest of Europe ever since. Iodine-131 is perhaps most closely associated with atomic bombs. But despite finding the material in January, authorities didn’t announce that it had been found until recent days. That might be because it isn't at all clear where it has come from..."
The technicians of Europe’s informal network of radioactivity surveillance experts, the Ring of Five, were the only ones to notice the spike in radiation levels. In the second week of January, the alert sounded in the north of Norway, with traces of iodine 131 detected in the air.
Other observations followed in Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain and France, according to the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN).
“We are leading the inquiry,” said Jean-Christophe Gariel, from the IRSN. “This means we are essentially reversing the trajectory of the iodine pollution in order to find out where it came from. But taking into account the weather in recent weeks, it will not be easy to model.”
“We have only detected iodine. If there had been an accident, like the ones in Fukushima or Chernobyl, we would have had leaks of other substances, like caesium,” Gariel said.
Among the theories considered most likely is that a manufacturer of medical radio-isotopes, probably in Eastern Europe, suffered a leak. This incident closely resembles an episode from 2011, when the Budapest isotopes institute released – legally and harmlessly – an amount of radioactive iodine into the environment.
The above map, provided by France's nuclear "protection" agency, IRSN, shows where high-level radiation particles have been detected since January.
Also remember that there is a thing called BIO-ACCUMULATION as the radiation spreads through the food chain (soil, and rain that waters the soil, to plants that are grown in that soil to animals that eat the plants and drink contaminated water, to humans who eat plants and animals that eat plants) and by means of drinking water. Then we also contend with fallout, what we're inhaling.
HERE'S A TRICK BIG NUKE USES TO ASSUAGE CONCERN... THEY SAY THE RADIATION IS NOT AT "HARMFUL LEVELS"...HARMFUL... ONE INGESTED PARTICLE CAN BE HARMFUL TO INFANTS, CHILDREN, ALL OF US. BUT WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE CONCERNED WITH THAT...JUST ACCEPT THAT THE "LOW LEVELS" WON'T EVER, EVER AFFECT US.
NO, BECAUSE THAT'S SIMPLY A DAMNABLE LIE.
IF LOW LEVELS ARE SO "HARMLESS", WHY, WHEN WE HAVE A PET/CT SCAN WITH RADIOISOTOPES, ARE WE WARNED TO "STAY A SAFE DISTANCE AWAY FROM OTHERS, ESPECIALLY PREGNANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN, FOR 3 OR MORE DAYS" AND ARE ISOLATED FROM OTHERS FOR AT LEAST 2 HOURS? WHY DO THOSE OF US WHO HAD SUCH SCANS SET OFF SENSITIVE RADIATION WARNING ALARMS FOR A DAY OR MORE? MORE ON THIS BELOW, NEAR THE END OF THIS ENTRY.
Recommendations of the European Committee on Radiation Risk [ECRR]:
"The TOTAL MAXIMUM permissible dose to members of the public arising from ALL human practices should not be more than 0.1mSv, with a value of 5mSv for nuclear workers.
[NOTE: THAT'S MILLISIEVERTS, NOT SIEVERTS. SO THAT MAXIMUM ALLOWED IS ONE-TENTH OF JUST ONE MILLISIEVERT.]
This would severely curtail the operation of nuclear power stations and reprocessing plants, and this reflects the committee's belief that nuclear power is a costly way of producing energy when human health deficits are included in the overall assessment.
In other words, radiation is ALWAYS considered harmful with NO safety threshold, and the SUM of several VERY SMALL exposures are considered to have the SAME effect as one larger exposure (which is termed "response linearity").
The Environmental Protection Agency says, “… ANY exposure to radiation poses some risk, i.e. there is no level below which we can say an exposure poses no risk.”
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) says, “ANY amount of radiation may pose SOME risk for causing cancer … ANY INCREASE IN DOSE, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, RESULTS IN AN INCREMENTAL INCREASE IN RISK."
- Iodine-131 poses a special health risk because of its cancer-causing effect on the thyroid gland. [When ingested/inhaled, Iodine 131 is concentrated in the thyroid gland.]
- The human body is surprisingly good at absorbing iodine and storing it in the thyroid gland.That’s a problem when iodine-131 is released into the atmosphere. The thyroid stores it as readily as natural, non-radioactive iodine.
-As iodine-131 builds up in the thyroid gland, it emits bursts of radiation that can damage DNA and other genetic material. Such damage can remove the normal limits to cell growth and division. Unchecked growth of thyroid tissue is thyroid cancer.
- Fallout—radioactive particles that fall out of the atmosphere and settle onto plants, soil, and water—further adds to the burden when a person eats iodine-131 enriched fruits and vegetables or drinks water containing the isotope. Milk is another vehicle—cows that eat grass sprinkled with iodine-131 make milk that contains it.
- Following the explosion and meltdown of the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl in 1986, follow-up health studies showed a significant increase in thyroid cancer in the area around Chernobyl, especially among children who were under 10 years old at the time of the explosion and those in utero. "
THEY MENTION THAT USING CURRENT LEVELS, AS OPPOSED TO USING A "TIME CURVE" IS A MISTAKE, AND SUGGEST USING A TIME CURVE INSTEAD, AS RADIATION BIO-ACCUMULATES OVER TIME, SOMETHING WE ALL KNOW NOW. THEY STATE THAT LETHAL RESPONSE TO ACUTE RADIATION VARIES AMONG ORGANISMS BECAUSE OF PHYSIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES..."
THE REPORT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT NEAR EVERY NUCLEAR FACILITY, AIR, SOIL AND WATER CONTAMINATION ARE A GIVEN.
THE SCIENTISTS IN 1972 WARNED THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL QUESTIONS THAT MUST BE ANSWERED WHEN ANY RADIATION IS RELEASED INTO THE ENVIRONMENT: (a) HOW MUCH, WHERE, AND WHAT TYPE. (b) HOW EACH TYPE MOVES THROUGH THE ENVIRONMENT. (C) WHERE NATURAL CONCENTRATIONS OF RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS ARE. (d) HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE ANY OF THESE TO COME INTO CONTACT WITH HUMANS. (e) HOW DOES EACH AFFECT THE ENVIRONMENT (f) HOW CAN SUCH INFORMATION HELP BUILD AN EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.
CHAPTER V POINTS TO THE FACT THAT WE THEN KNEW THAT NUMEROUS "SMALL" GENETIC DEFECTS OCCURRED FROM VERY LOW DOSES OF RADIATION, WHICH WERE OFTEN OVERLOOKED IN SOME REPORTS.
"THE LOW-DOSE SOMATIC EFFECTS [OF RADIATION] THAT ARE MOST FEARED ARE CANCER AND LEUKEMIA. IN CONTRAST TO SOMATIC EFFECTS, WHERE THE CONCERN IS CONCENTRATED MAINLY ON MALIGNANT DISEASE, THE GENETIC EFFECTS ARE ON ALL KINDS OF CONDITIONS -- FOR THE SPECTRUM OF RADIATION-CAUSED GENETIC DISEASE IS ALMOST AS WIDE AS THE SPECTRUM FROM ALL OTHER CAUSES.... THE GENETICALLY SIGNIFICANT DOSE IS PROBABLY CONSIDERABLY LESS THAN THE 0.8 MREM [LESS THAN 0.01 mSv] IN THE [CURRENT] TABLE BECAUSE OF THE AGE DISTRIBUTION OF THOSE WHO ARE OCCUPATIONALLY EXPOSED."
LET'S PAUSE RIGHT HERE AND ADDRESS ANOTHER TRICK THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INDUSTRY PLAYS ON ALL OF US...USING DIFFERENT TERMS FOR RADIATION TO MAKE IT SEEM HARMLESS, OR LESS HARMLESS. A VERY QUICK, SIMPLE CONVERTER CAN BE ACCESSED BY ALL AT http://www.easysurf.cc/cnver24.htm
1 mrem = 0.01 mSv
AND DO LOOK AT HOW MANY,MANY TERMS CAN BE USED FOR RADIATION. THAT IS NOT BY ANY MEANS ALL THE TERMS/SYMBOLS USED WHEN RADIATION IS REPORTED! IT'S CRAZY HOW MANY THERE ARE!
NOW LET'S GO BACK AND LOOK AT THAT SECOND MAP. DO YOU SEE NOW WHY THIS SHOULD CONCERN THE PEOPLE IN THOSE NATIONS?
"On Feb. 17, 2017, U.S. Air Force WC-135C Constant Phoenix Nuclear explosion “sniffer,” serial number 62-3582, using radio call sign “Cobra 55” deployed to RAF Mildenhall, UK."
WOW! IS THAT TOO MUCH INFORMATION OR IS THAT TOO MUCH INFORMATION? IF THIS "HARMLESS AMOUNT" IS SO HARMLESS, WHY GO TO THE INCREDIBLE EXPENSE OF SENDING A SPECIAL PLANE AND SPECIALLY TRAINED CREW ALL THE WAY TO EUROPE?
WHEN ONE WANTS TO VIEW THAT FILM, ONE GETS THE MESSAGE:
"http://www.nv.doe.gov is requesting your username and password"
"You are not authorized to view this page You do not have permission to view this directory or page using the credentials that you supplied because your Web browser is sending a WWW-Authenticate header field that the Web server is not configured to accept. "
AND WE FIND: "The Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM) was a United States Navy and Marines project that was demonstrated as feasible in the mid-to-late 1960s, but was never used.
[NEVER? REALLY?]
The project, which involved a small nuclear weapon, was designed to allow one individual to parachute from any type of aircraft carrying the weapon package and place it in a harbor or other strategic location that could be accessed from the sea. Another parachutist without a weapon package would follow the first to provide support as needed.
The two-man team would place the weapon package in the target location, set the timer, and swim out into the ocean where they would be retrieved by a submarine or other high-speed water craft. The parachute jumps and the retrieval procedures were practiced extensively.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the United States developed several different types of lightweight nuclear devices. The main one was the Mk-54, a cylinder 40 by 60 centimetes that weighed 68 kilograms (the warhead was a variation of one developed for the Davy Crockett recoilless rifle projectile). It was fired by a mechanical timer and had a variable yield from 10 tons up to one kiloton. 300 SADMs were assembled and remained in the US arsenal until 1989."
"As we have already reported the WC-135 is a derivative of the Boeing C-135 transport and support plane. Two of these aircraft are in service today out of the ten examples operated since 1963. The aircraft are flown by flight crews from the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron from Offutt Air Force Base while mission crews are staffed by Detachment 1 from the Air Force Technical Applications Center. The WC-135, known as the “sniffer” or “weather bird” by its crews, can carry up to 33 personnel. However, crew compliments are kept to a minimum during mission flights in order to lessen levels of radioactive exposure."
APPARENTLY, THE CREW TWEETED THEIR ADVENTURE: Tracking over the #UK 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 US Air Force WC-135C Constant Phoenix Nuclear explosion ‘sniffer’ 62-3582 COBRA55 https://t.co/fvbSNtInVP pic.twitter.com/BB1WbDzAZK https://t.co/BB1WbDzAZK
— CivMilAir ✈ 🚁 (@CivMilAir) February 17, 2017
AND THAT'S ABOUT ALL THERE IS IN AMERICAN MEDIA ON THE ENTIRE "MYSTERY RADIATION" AND RADIATION DETECTOR AIRCRAFT GOING TO EUROPE. JUST ENOUGH TO LET US KNOW "WE'RE ON THIS", OR TO PROVIDE A NICE COVER STORY?
Australian news reported all this: "With the source of the release still unknown, the US has sent one of its two Boeing WC-135 nuclear ‘sniffer planes’ to the UK.
Flying into an air base in eastern England last week it has now reportedly been sent to northern Norway.
The US military has confirmed the Constant Phoenix’s presence in Europe but played down its significance."
WELL, SOMEONE WILL "DRAW THE SHORT STRAW" AND TAKE THE RAP FOR THIS "MYSTERY RADIATION" EVENT. WE'LL JUST WAIT AND SEE WHO IT IS THIS TIME.
MEANWHILE, IT REALLY IS CRIMINAL FROM AN ETHICAL VIEWPOINT, THAT THE POPULATIONS OF ALL THOSE NATIONS AFFECTED AREN'T BEING WARNED ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF OMETHING SO POTENTIALLY DEADLY.
"NUCLEAR PROTECTION AGENCIES" ONCE AGAIN PROTECT THE REPUTATION OF GOOD OLD NUCLEAR ENERGY, PERIOD, THE END. AND TO HELL WITH THE HEALTH OF MILLIONS OF INFANTS, CHILDREN AND PREGNANT MOTHERS.
AS PROMISED, HERE IS AN ARTICLE THAT EXPLAINS HOW A WEE SMALL AMOUNT OF RADIATION IS CONSIDERED VERY HAZARDOUS TO HUMAN HELATH, RE: NUCLEAR MEDICAL TESTS.
FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES, HOW SMALL OF AN AMOUNT OF I-131 IS HAZARDOUS? http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/health/policy/25radiation.html "Patients treated with radioactive iodine can be dangerous to people around them, said the New York Times. There are about 40,000 new cases of thyroid cancer a year, and most patients are treated with radiation, which makes them potentially dangerous to people around them for up to a week.
After thyroid treatment, patients are advised not to hug children or pregnant women, or to sleep next to another person, for several days — depending on the size of the dose.
They are even advised against eating chicken wings or whole apples, because the bones or the core will be contaminated with radioactive saliva.
Hospital isolation is still the practice in Europe
In 1997, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission dropped a requirement that such patients be quarantined in the hospital. Instead, patients can be released right after their treatment, when they are at their most radioactive.
And while most people go right home, one patient in New York boarded a bus for Atlantic City, N.J., and set off a radiation alarm in the Lincoln Tunnel.
Scientists have estimated that, depending on the amount of radioactive drug given to a thyroid patient, a secondhand dose could exceed an average American’s annual level from all natural sources, and three or four times the safe level recommended for a pregnant woman.
One person alarmed about the situation is Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, whose office has been studying the issue. He accuses the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of turning a blind eye to the problem.
“My investigation has led me to conclude that the levels of unintentional radiation received by members of the public who have been exposed to patients that have received ‘drive through’ radiation treatments may well exceed international safe levels established for pregnant women and children,” Mr. Markey said in a statement.
James G. Luehman, an NRC staff official who helps monitor the safe handling of radioactive materials used in medicine, said his agency might have made a mistake in dropping the quarantine requirement. The idea was that letting people return home to recuperate would cut costs, benefit the patients and allow doctors with no quarantine facilities to perform the treatment.
The agency knew that relatives and strangers would get a radiation dose from such patients, Mr. Luehman said, but it assumed that the doses to people like hotel clerks and chambermaids would be random and that no one was likely to be exposed repeatedly.
New York City has gone a step further. Last June, it advised radiologists and endocrinologists, “Do not advise patients to go to a hotel.” A few states have similar policies."
DISCONCERTING, ISN'T IT? IT IS FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE THOSE SCANS DONE FREQUENTLY.
FOR THOSE OF US CONCERNED WITH HUMAN LIFE AND THE LIVES OF CHILDREN, INFANTS, FETUSES IN UTERO, THIS "MYSTERY EVENT" IN EUROPE IS ALSO EXTREMELY TROUBLESOME.
SHOULDN'T THAT INCLUDE ALL OF OUR "NUCLEAR PROTECTION AGENCIES? SHOULDN'T THE AGENCIES IN ALL OUR COUNTRIES "ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION" AND WARN THEIR CITIZENS ABOUT THIS IF THEY CARE ABOUT HUMAN LIFE?
WELL, IT DOESN'T INCLUDE THOSE AGENCIES, THOSE GOVERNMENTS. THAT'S BLATANTLY OBVIOUS.
On 1 March 1995, President Clinton declared 212.5 tonnes of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium to be excess to national security needs. Since that time additional information about the amount, locations, and forms of this material has been released. The excess plutonium (38.2 tonnes) is stored at 10 locations in Washington, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico (two locations), Texas, Ohio, New York, Tennessee and South Carolina. The HEU (174.3 tonnes) is stored at six locations in Washington, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and South Carolina. It is expected that the HEU will be blended with natural uranium to produce some 7000 tonnes of civilian power plant fuel over 8-10 years. About 10 tonnes of HEU has already been placed under international safeguards at the Oak Ridge Y-12 site. Since the invention of nuclear weapons, the U.S. has built about 70,000
warheads, and dismantled about 58,000 of them with most of the nuclear
materials being recycled into new weapons.
The U.S. currently has about
12,500 weapons in existence, but only 8700 (approx.) are in active
service. The remaining 3800 or so are retired weapons either awaiting
dismantlement, making up part of the inactive reserve, or both. Some
counts give somewhat lower numbers for operational weapons (e.g. 7200),
but the weapons making up this differential are simply "in storage",
have not been transferred to reserve status, and are in full operational
condition. At its numeric peak in 1967, the U.S. arsenal had some
32,500 warheads.
On 6 February 1996 U.S. Dept. of Energy declassified significant additional information about plutonium stocks and their location. It was disclosed that since 1944 the U.S. produced or acquired 111.4 tonnes of plutonium, principally for weapons programs. 93.5% was produced in government reactors, 5% was imported from 14 countries and 1.5% arose from commercial reactors.
89.3% of the 111.4 tonnes produced or acquired remains in the DOE/Department of Defense inventory (99.5 tonnes). The balance consists of plutonium used in the Nagasaki bomb and in weapons tests (3.4 tonnes, 3.1%), waste (3.1%), inventory differences (2.5%), fission and transmutation (1.1%), transfer to foreign countries (0.6%), decay (0.4%) and distribution to the civilian nuclear industry (0.1%). Of the 99.5 tonnes in current inventory, 85 tonnes is weapons-grade plutonium
The GMD system is designed to repel a “limited” missile attack by a non-superpower adversary such as Iran or North Korea. The nation’s defense against a massive nuclear assault by Russia or China still relies on “mutually assured destruction,” the Cold War notion that neither country would strike first for fear of a devastating counterattack. TRANSLATION: THE U.S. HAS NO REAL MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM, SO IF CHINA DECIDED, "SCREW IT! WE'RE GOING TO NUKE YOU INTO OBLIVION!", THEY COULD. GIVEN CHINA'S POPULATION, THEY MIGHT NOT MISS THE MILLIONS AMERICA'S NUKES WOULD TAKE OUT?
ABOVE MAP: Sites that the Missile Defense Agency is being forced to study as a potential third site for the GMD system: Fort Custer Training Center, near Battle Creek, MI.; Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center, near Akron, OH; and Fort Drum, NY. (Source: Google Earth)
[No one in that agency has asked for a 3rd site, they don't want a 3rd site, but Congress is forcing the issue.] MAYBE CONGRESS HASN'T BEEN LISTENING TO ALL THOSE SAD MDA REPORTS GIVEN TO THEM ABOUT THE FAILURES AND PROBLEMS WITH THE EXISTING GMD SYSTEM, OR ARE THEY JUST TOO STUPID TO COMPREHEND WHAT THEY'RE TOLD?
The U,S,missile defense system is plagued with oversight and accountability issues.
~FROM THE L.A. TIMES: Pentagon skips tests on key component of U.S.-based missile defenseAgainst the advice of its own panel of outside experts, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency is forgoing tests meant to ensure that a critical component of the nation’s homeland missile defense system will work as intended.
The tests that are being skipped would evaluate the reliability of small motors designed to help keep rocket interceptors on course as they fly toward incoming warheads.
The components, called alternate divert thrusters, are vital to the high-precision guidance required to intercept and destroy an enemy warhead traveling at supersonic speed – a feat likened to hitting one speeding bullet with another.
In precisely scripted flight tests above the Pacific, interceptors have failed to hit mock enemy warheads about half the time.
The new GAO report concludes that the missile agency’s flight testing has been “insufficient to demonstrate that an operationally useful defense capability exists.”
~ FROM BACK IN 2013, SAME STORY: Regardless of Outcome, System Not Ready for Prime Time, UCS Says ... failed test of the problem-plagued Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Over the last decade, the system has failed eight of 15 intercept tests, including the last three in a row, despite the fact that the tests were highly scripted. That means the GMD system operators knew ahead of time where and when the target would be launched, and exactly what it looked like.
Fixing the problems uncovered by recent failures will cost more than $1.3 billion, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
DID YOU GET THAT? FIXING THE PROBLEMS WOULD COST LESS THAN $2 BILLION, BUT CONGRESS HAD RATHER MAKE THE MDA SPEND OVER $4 BILLION TO BUILD A NEW SITE AND EQUIP IT WITH MORE FAULTY MISSILES.
YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK, AMERICA! YAY, TEAM CONGRESS, RIGHT?
$40,000,000,000... divided by 2... THAT MEANS EACH OF OUR 2 CURRENT FACILITIES ARE COSTING US $20 BILLION EACH, BUT CONGRESS WANTS "JUST" $3.6 BILLION FOR A 3rd FACILITY?
"The existing U.S.Ground-based Midcourse (GMD) System sites in California and Alaska have been home to America's "missile defense" for many years.
Many of the GMD system’s problems are rooted in decisions made more than 10 years ago. In 2002, the Bush administration mandated the MDA to field a system by the fall of 2004 to defend the United States against a theoretical missile attack.
To facilitate this deadline-driven approach, the Bush administration and Congress loosened or set aside the normal requirements and oversight processes for new weapons systems, which allowed the MDA to field technology under development that has not passed the rigorous milestones normally required.
Consequently, the MDA fielded equipment with completely unknown capability.
Officials inside the MDA are skeptical about what starting this expensive project would do to their priorities in a constrained budget environment, including improving the reliability and effectiveness of the existing system.
Improving reliability and effectiveness would be a good thing.
The GMD system has been plagued with serious reliability problems and has a poor test record."
THAT'S PUTTING IT MILDLY.
The US missile defense system is a joke | New York Post JULY 14, 2016 The ground-based midcourse missile defense system, which has deployed 30 interceptors in Alaska and California, has been tested under highly scripted conditions only nine times since being deployed in 2004, and failed to destroy its target two-thirds of the time, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) said in a report.
“After nearly 15 years of effort to build the GMD homeland missile defense system, it still has not demonstrated real-world capability to defend the United States,” said Laura Grego, a UCS physicist who co-authored the report.
“Instead of getting something out to the field that worked well or worked adequately, in fact this has been a disaster. It’s done the opposite,” she said.
The Obama administration’s efforts to improve oversight while keeping the system outside the normal development and procurement process have contributed to the problems, she said.
[8 YEARS OF BUSH, 8 YEARS OF OBAMA AND NO PROGRESS? IS IT INTENTIONAL?]
“The lack of accountability has had and will have real lasting effects, especially for a system … that’s strategically important. It should be held to the highest standards, the highest rigor,” she added.
A Pentagon assessment in 2015 found that flight testing of the system was still “insufficient to demonstrate that an operationally useful defense capability exists.”
A February report by Congress’s Government Accountability Office said the MDA was taking a “high-risk” approach by buying interceptors still under development for operational use."
CONGRESS DOESN'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THE ABOVE ASSESSMENTS, FAILURES, OR THE LESS COSTLY ABILITY WE HAVE TO FIX THE DAMNED THING.
INSTEAD, THE IMBECILES ON THE HILL ARE INSISTING THAT ALMOST $4 BILLION BE SPENT FOR A NEW FACILITY, KNOWING THE TWO OLD ONES HAVE FLAWS THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED AND REMEDIED AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
SO, INSTEAD OF APPLYING THOSE BILLIONS TO FIX THE EXITING PROBLEMS OF AN UNRELIABLE MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM, CONGRESS WANTS TO CREATE A NEW PROBLEM BY SPENDING $3.6 BILLION JUST TO BUILD THIS FACILITY (AS IF THAT WILL STAY WITHIN 'BUDGET') , AND ANOTHER $2.6 BILLION TO FILL IT WITH MISSILES?
WHY?
BECAUSE $$$$$$$, THAT'S WHY....KA-CHING, KA-CHING!
$$$$$$ FOR THEIR STATES, THEY SAY, IN THE FORM OF JOBS, THEY LIE, WHAT WOULD HAVE TO BE PURCHASED LOCALLY TO BUILD THE THING, ETC...OR SO THEY SAY, BUT THAT IS NOT HOW IT WORKS.
BASICALLY, CONGRESS IS PLAYING THE OLD GAME OF "LOOK WHAT I'M DOING FOR MY BELOVED CONSTITUENTS AND MY STATE, SO RE-ELECT ME, I LOVE YOU." BS! THEY'RE DOING WHAT THEY'VE ALWAYS DONE...SUCKING UP TO THOSE WHO WILL BE HANDED THE CONTRACTS FOR THIS STUPID STUNT. IT'S THE BIG MONEY FOLKS WHO MAKE THE REALLY BIG CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS, AFTER ALL.
"Congressional delegations (with a few exceptions) from Michigan, New York and Ohio have crossed party lines and asked the Missile Defense Agency to support locating the site in their respective states. Their support appears to be largely driven by an interest in creating jobs.
This includes ground equipment ($1.2 billion); developing the site, building the facilities, and constructing the silos ($1 billion); the cost of buying 20 interceptors ($1.3 billion), and operations costs ($100 million).
For the full complement of 60 interceptors, it would cost at least $2.6 billion more.
There’s no military requirement for an additional missile defense site. Nor was the idea of building a third site the result of a rigorous study of what would best improve the system’s ability to intercept ballistic missile threats to the homeland.
Admiral William Gortney stated: "If I had one more dollar to do ballistic missile defense, I wouldn't put it against the east coast missile site."
Pentagon officials have gone on record as being concerned that the current TWO sites need work, that the entire defense system has never been proven to work when faced with decoys and other countermeasures.
Many connected to the system itself have cautioned that the interceptors themselves could use work, COULD be made more efficient.
The GMD system has been plagued with serious reliability problems and has a poor test record.
[WHY NOT "FIX WHAT'S BROKEN" INSTEAD OF ADDING TO THE PROBLEM WITH THE COST OF ANOTHER FACILITY HOUSING THAT THE MILITARY ITSELF QUESTIONS AS A VIABLE DEFENSE SYSTEM?]
But you can count on Congress to run with this idea and push for it as hard as it can.
Every year since 2012, Congress has attempted to dedicate/earmark money to build [a third] site, despite Pentagon budgets that never included a dime for it. "
WELL, MISSILE DEFENSE IS "ON TRACK" TO COMPLY WITH IDIOTIC CONGRESSIONAL WISHES.
"The MDA continues to prepare the congressionally-mandated Continental United States Interceptor Site (CIS) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evalue sites for a potential additional ground-based interceptor site.
This EIS is required by the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act.
The Department of Defense has NOT made a decision to deploy or construct an additional interceptor site.
There currently is no expressed military requirement for an additional ground-based interceptor site.
An EIS is being prepared for the following military installations: 1- Fort Custer Training Center – Michigan Army National Guard, Augusta, Michigan
2- Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center – Ohio Army National Guard, Portage and Trumbull Counties, Ohio
3- Fort Drum, Fort Drum, New York
On January 16, 2016, MDA designated the Center for Security Forces Detachment Kittery Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape Facility (SERE East), Redington Township, Maine, as an alternative considered but not carried forward due to significant environmental impacts, cost and constructability issues.
The MDA announced the availability of the Draft EIS in the Federal Register on May 31, 2016.
The MDA encouraged all interested members of the public, as well as federal, state, and local agencies to review and provide comments on the Draft EIS. Comments received will be addressed in the Final EIS.
Please continue to check back on this site for updates, handouts, news releases and official reports.
Public Comment Period:
The MDA extended the public comment period for the Draft EIS. Due to the complexity of the Draft EIS, cooperating agencies requested an extension to the public comment period to have additional time to review the Draft EIS.
The public comment period was set to end July 18 and was extended by 30 days.Notice of this extension was issued in the Federal Register on July 15. The public comment period ended August 17, 2016. MDA is still on track to complete the Final EIS later this year."
I DO WONDER HOW MANY RESIDENTS OF THOSE TOWNS "STUDIED" EVER HERD ABOUT THAT "PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD". WAS IT PUBLISHED IN LOCAL NEWSPAPERS, AIRED ON LOCAL TV?
THAT MDA SITE ALSO HAS A "NEWS" LINK AND WE SEE THAT MAYBE FORT DRUM WILL GET THE NOD ON THE 3rd FACILITY BEING CRAMMED DOWN MDA's THROAT?
July 21, 2016 - Ground-based Midcourse Defense The U.S. Missile Defense Agency, along with the U.S. Army, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony today at Fort Drum, New York, for the In-Flight Interceptor Communications System (IFICS) data terminal. A critical link in the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, the data terminal is designed to send and receive messages to the Exo-atmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) while in flight, constantly transmitting target updates. The data terminal also relays data from the EKV back to the GMD fire control system.
AND IN OTHER MISSILE DEFENSE "NEWS": U.S., Japan Successfully Conduct First SM-3 Block IIA Intercept Test Feb. 3, 2017 - International Cooperation The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD), and U.S. Navy sailors aboard USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully conducted a flight test Feb. 3 (Hawaii Standard Time), resulting in the first intercept of a ballistic missile target using the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA off the west coast of Hawaii.
Israel and U.S. Successfully Complete David’s Sling Weapon System Intercept Test Series Jan. 25, 2017 - International Cooperation The Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) of the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) successfully completed a test series of the David’s Sling Weapons System, a missile defense system that is a central part of Israel’s multi-layer anti-missile array.
Dec. 14, 2016 - Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense The Missile Defense Agency and sailors aboard USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53), an Aegis baseline 9.C1 equipped destroyer, successfully fired a salvo of two SM-6 Dual I missiles against a complex medium-range ballistic missile target, demonstrating the Sea Based Terminal endo-atmospheric defensive capability and meeting the test's primary objective.
Oct. 3, 2016 - BMD Ground Test The Missile Defense Agency (MDA), in conjunction with the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense, U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Pacific Command, today completed a ground test to assess the performance of the Ballistic Missile Defense System. Throughout the 12-day test, ballistic missile defense systems participated in various simulated threat scenarios to evaluate how the system would respond in the event of an actual attack. MDA conducts ground tests regularly to help the agency and combatant commanders develop missile defense doctrine, train operators and assess the current system.
WE CAN ALSO SEE AMERICA AND OUR MDA HELPING NATO ALLIES 'MISSILE-UP' AGAINST THAT BIG, BAD BOOGEY-MONSTER, RUSSIA....IT MUST LOOK LIKE A BRISTLING PORCUPINE ALL ALONG THE RUSSIAN BORDER WITH SO MANY MISSILES DEPLOYED OVER THERE, AND MORE ON THE WAY.
NOW IF RUSSIA CAME OVER AND "HELPED" MEXICO DO THE SAME TO "DETER AGGRESSION" FROM THE USA, ALL HELL WOULD BREAK LOOSE, RIGHT?
ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS LOOK BACK AT THAT "CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS" IN THE 1960s.
AND LET'S NOT FORGET THAT 'BAY OF PIGS'.
POOR OLD MEXICO HAS TO TAKE CARE OF ITSELF IN THE FACE OF "IMMINENT DANGER" FROM AN ATTACK BY THE USA, JUST AS THOSE NATO NATIONS SHOULD BE DOING.
HOW MANY MEXICAN MISSILES ARE POINTED AT TEXAS AFTER ALL, EVEN NOW, IN THE FACE OF THE NEW 'UNFRIENDLY" ADMINISTRATION OF DONALD TRUMP? ZERO.
HOW MANY RUSSIAN MISSILES WERE TILTED TOWARD POLAND AND ROMANIA, ETC, BEFORE AMERICA WENT OVER TO "HELP" THOSE NATIONS ...AND SENT THEM NUKES? I'D WAGER ZERO.
I WONDER...DOES RUSSIA AND CHINA AND PAKISTAN AND FRANCE AND THE U.K. AND GERMANY ALL ENCOURAGE THEIR UNIVERSITIES TO GET INVOLVED IN DOING RESEARCH FOR THEIR MILITARY LIKE AMERICA DOES?
DO THEY HAVE A "PLAYBOOK" FOR THEIR COLLEGES?
ANYBODY KNOW? University Programs Playbook A resource to guide universities through the process of submitting proposals for research.
THE MDA EVEN HAS A GAME, YES, A GAME, ON THEIR WEBSITE SO WE CAN ALL PLAY "PROTECT AMERICA"!
IF ANYONE GOES AND "PLAYS", PLEASE DO POST YOUR SCORES IN THE COMMENTS SECTION...I PROMISE TO OKAY THOSE POSTS! DO YOU GET THE FEELING WE ARE "FUBAR", AMERICANS?
UPDATE: APRIL 15, 2017 JUST SINCE I PUBLISHED THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE ON FEB. 19, 2017, ALL OF THESE HAVE BEEN REPORTED...IT'S SIMPLY MIND-BOGGLING AND HEART-BREAKING. NOT LISTED, INLAND DEATHS, OR DEATHS DUE TO DROUGHT AND EXCESSIVE HEAT.
SOME OF THE LINKS LEAD TO ARTICLES THAT MAY NEED TO BE TRANSLATED.
SOMEONE SAID I SHOULD HAVE WARNED READERS ABOUT THE GRAPHIC 'DISTURBING' NATURE OF SOME OF THE MANY PHOTOS BELOW THIS UPDATE...CONSIDER THAT WARNING ISSUED NOW.
~ 4th April 2017 - Thousands of birds are dying in Atlanta, America. Link
~ 1st April 2017 - 38 dead dolphins found washed up along Sundays River coast, South Africa. 38 carcasses wash up on Sundays River coast in sixth stranding in same area.Link
~ 31st March 2017 - Thousands of fish and shrimp dead in the waters of Dewantara, Indonesia. Link
~ 30th March 2017 - Tons of dead fish washing up everyday along a river in Preah Vihear, Cambodia. Link
~ 27th March 2017 - 70+ dead turtles found in a lagoon in Managua, Nicaragua. Link
~ 23rd March 2017 - Thousands of dead fish wash up in a lagoon in San Luis, Argentina. Link
~ 23rd March 2017 - Hundreds of dead birds found along a beach in Costa Grande, Mexico. Link
~ 22nd March 2017 - Thousands of monkeys dead from disease is 'unprecedented' in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Link
~ 22nd March 2017 - Thousands of dead fish washing up on beaches in Victoria and NSW, Australia. Link
~ 21st March 2017 - 30,000 dead fish found in a lake in Idaho, America. Link
~ 20th March 2017 - Thousands of dead fish found washed up along a river in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Link
~ 18th March 2017 - Masses of dead cockles, dead fish and a dolphin washed ashore in Miri, Malaysia. Link
~ 17th March 2017 - Millions of dead shellfish wash up in Waihi Beach, New Zealand. Link
~ 17th March 2017 - Thousands of dead fish wash up in the waters of Thirthahalli, India. Link
~ 17th March 2017 - Mass die off of fish found washed up on the shores of Los Santos, Panama. Link
~ 14th March 2017 - 5,000 goldfish found dead in a lagoon in Western Australia. Link
~ 14th March 2017 - Thousands of dead fish found in a canal in Tainan, Taiwan. Link
~ 11th March 2017 - 40 dead turtles found since January along the coast of Uruguay.This weekend two more were found in Punta Colorada. Link
~ 8th March 2017 - Several dead leopard sharks found washed ashore on a beach in California, America. Link
~ 7th March 2017 - 3 more dead dolphins found washed up on beaches in Southern England. Link
~ 3rd March 2017 - Massive die off of fish found in a lagoon in Cordoba, Spain. Link
~ 2nd March 2017 - Large die off of fish in a river in Vaxjo, Sweden. Link
~ 1st March 2017 - Massive die off of fish in a lake in Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey. Link
~ 28th February 2017 - 9 TONS of dead fish found floating in the sea by fishermen in Zhejiang, China. Link
~ 28th February 2017 - TONS of dead fish found washed up along the beaches of Apetlon, Austria. Link
~ 28th February 2017 - Hundreds of dead fish found along beaches in Huatulco, Mexico. Link
~ 28th February 2017 - Hundreds of dead fish found in a river in New South Wales, Australia. Link
~ 28th February 2017 - 4 dead whales have washed ashore during the past month in Virginia, America. Link
~ 27th February 2017 - Thousands of fish have died in the Magdalena River in Colombia. Link
~ 25th February 2017 - Hundreds of dead fish wash up on beaches in Montevideo, Uruguay. Link
~ 23rd February 2017 - Massive die off of fish in a river in Thanh Hoa, Vietnam. Link
~ 22nd February 2017 - 100 dead dolphins washed up during past 8 weeks, 'IT's A MASSACRE', in Cornwall, England. "It takes 20 minutes for them to die, and it's an appalling death." Link
~ 22nd February 2017 - 56 dead whales and dolphins wash up this year, 'WORST ON RECORD', in Ireland. DEATHS RISE FIVE-FOLD. Link
~ 22nd February 2017 - 6 TONS of fish die in a lake in South Cotabato, Philippines. Link
~22nd February 2017 - Massive die off of fish in lake Eber in Afyon Province, Turkey. Link
~21st February 2017 - Dozens of dead sea birds, plus dead sea lions found along the coast in Puerto Natales, Chile. Link
THIS ENDS THE UPDATE. I HADN'T CHECKED THE LIST IN 2 MONTHS...JUST TWO MONTHS AND ALL THESE DEATHS. THE PHOTOS...I JUST COULDN'T UPLOAD THEM...IT WAS A BIT TOO MUCH. THE ONES BELOW ARE BAD ENOUGH...
HERRING, NOVA SCOTIA TO LABRADOR
DEAD STARFISH AND CRUSTACEANS, NOVA SCOTIA
SWEDEN
HUNDREDS OF DEAD/DYING BABY SEA TURTLES, AUSTRALIA
DEAD AND DYING PELICANS, FLORIDA
Millions of dead sardines, Chile
.
Costa Rica
.
Dead jellyfish, Australia
ALMOST 100 DEAD 'FALSE KILLER WHALE' DOLPHINS, EVERGLADES, FLORIDA.
THIS IS BY NO MEANS AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF MARINE DEATHS THIS YEAR ALONE. THERE IS NO WAY TO KNOW HOW MANY MARINE MAMMALS AND OTHER MARINE LIFE DIE AT SEA AND ARE THEN CONSUMED BY MARINE FORAGERS NOR HOW MANY DIE AND SINK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEANS.
AS SMALL AS THIS LIST IS FOR THE MONTHS OF JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, IT IS STILL DISTURBING. EACH NATION REPORTING SUCH THINGS MENTIONED HOW OFTEN IT SEEMS THESE DEATHS OCCUR LATELY.
ALSO NOTICED, MOST SITES SPEAK OF THIS BEING THE SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH OR EVEN FIFTH YEAR OF EITHER STRANDED ANIMALS, MASS DIE-OFFS, OR "MISSING" MARINE ANIMALS.
The five-year testing of mainly bombers and fighter aircraft would start in September. It would involve the detonation of a variety of missiles and other weapons about 50 miles offshore of Kauai.
The testing could cause sound or pressure-related problems for whales, dolphins and other marine mammals in the area.
Gordon LaBedz of Kauai's whale education group Kohola Leo said the fight to prevent the Air Force from getting a federal permit will likely end up in court.
SO WHAT'S A FEW WHALES, DOLPHINS AND OTHER MARINE LIFE WASHING UP DEAD ON BEACHES?
IT MAY SEEM THAT A FEW HERE AND THERE ARE INSIGNIFICANT, BUT WE MUST ADD THEM ALL TOGETHER TO REALIZE THE "BIG PICTURE".
WE MUST ALSO REALIZE THAT THESE CREATURES SIMPLY HAVE NO PLACE LEFT TO GO. THEIR ENTIRE LIVES ARE IN THE SEA. MOST CANNOT LIVE ON LAND.
WHATEVER IS KILLING THEM, NO MATTER WHAT IT IS, MUST BE DISCOVERED AND REMEDIED. THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY DEATHS TO IGNORE.
[PLEASE NOTE: The dates correspond to the date the articles were published in some instances.]
ALSO ON JAN.3, THIS ARTICLE DOES NOT PERTAIN TO MARINE ANIMALS, BUT WAS SO WIDESPREAD THAT I THOUGHT OF 2011 WHEN SO MANY BLACKBIRDS BEGAN FALLING FROM THE SKY ALL OVER THE U.S. WE'RE SEEING IT AGAIN, AS WELL AS DOZENS OF OWLS SUDDENLY DYING ALONG ONE STRETCH OF ROAD IN IDAHO.
~Several dozens of birds fall dead from sky in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, America. Dozens of black birds apparently fell from the sky Friday afternoon at several points along Route 22, according to state police and multiple witnesses who drove through the area. "I thought maybe there was an accident and then I saw something fall from the sky," one witness said. "There were some fluttering on the shoulder of the road. I couldn't avoid hitting them, and I thought that is really strange."
In December, residents in southern New Jersey reported a shower of as many as 200 red-winged blackbirds , the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Three weeks before that incident, a couple dozen dead birds were found in the same neighborhood. Earlier in 2016, a similar situation was reported in a North Jersey farming area, the Inquirer reported.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection conducted tests on the dead birds but was unable to determine what made them fall from the sky, the newspaper said.
She estimates there were 100 lobsters alone. “It was babies, from two inches to measured (harvestable) lobsters.”
Chubbs, who is the custodian at the Bonne Bay Marine Station, was ready to do what she could to get the creatures to the tanks at the marine station, but everything was dead. “There was nothing that I could help save.”
The loss is probably worse than it looked, as it’s possible more creatures than what washed up were affected," said Bob Hooper, the retired MUN professor and founding director of the station, but he hopes it’s localized to the shoal waters in front of Chubb’s house.
~RELATED: Starfish, crabs, mussels and lobster washing up on Nova Scotia beaches Dec. 26, 2016 People here have been seeing dead herring washing ashore for weeks, the beach covered in herring, but today they also saw hundreds of starfish, dozens and dozens of little crabs, mussels, lobsters and clams. These sightings, first reported by Eric Hewey on Facebook earlier on Dec. 26, are the first indication that other species might be involved in the massive herring die off. Herring have been washing up steadily in southwest Nova Scotia for more than a month now. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans began investigating Nov. 22 after thousands and thousands of herring began washing in the eastern end of St. Mary’s Bay. And then Nov. 29, people started seeing the herring wash up on the shores of the Annapolis Basin near Digby, Smith’s Cove and near Cornwallis.
DFO has confirmed reports of dead and dying herring as far away as Pubnico as well.
DFO shared results of their testing – all negative - on Dec. 14, meaning none of the tests had turned up any clue as to what has been killing the herring.
DFO said at the time that further testing could take a couple more weeks.
13 January 2017 - ~Thousands of dead fish wash up along a lagoon in Patagonia. (That link takes a very long time to load. Same story, loads faster, found <HERE>.) The pejerreyes and the trout appeared mysteriously on the sand and ignited the alert since a decade ago something similar had happened in that [same] water. Faced with this situation, two aquaculturists from the Andean Zone Sport Fishing Board visited the lagoon to take water samples and collect fish to send to the National University of Comahue.
14 January 2017 ~(Translated and mentioned only because the mass die-off was in a lock involving several species.) Mass die off of fish in the waters of Wilhelmshausen, Germany. Eel, perch, pike, roach eye - all dead. Martin Engelmann is shocked. The 77-year-old angler can not believe the enigmatic fish death at the lock at Wilhelmshausen. "This is a disaster. I've never seen anything like this before, I could really cry," says Engelmann who has been fishing in the area for 40 years. Rolf-Dieter Summa from the competent waterway and shipping office in Hann. Münden confirmed fish dying. "We learned on December 27," he says, "but we can not explain that," he says on HNA's request. "In recent years, we have had no such problems." He assured , however, that the Office was going to work out the cause of the death of the fish. "We'll test that," says Summa.
15 January 2017 - ~10 dead dolphins found washed up, 'experts baffled', in Cornwall, England. It comes as mass strandings of mackerel in Cornwall continue to puzzle experts. Between January and March last year, 61 dolphins, porpoises and whales were found dead around Cornwall’s coast, the steepest rise in the death toll since 2006, according to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
On Jan. 18, still more dead dolphins washed ashore. In the two-week period from the start of January, 25 strandings were recorded by volunteers from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, compared with just four in the first two weeks of last year. “Some animals have got very obvious evidence externally, others are a more grey area, so you need to rely on postmortems, but unfortunately the Government only pays for a small number — only 20 a year in Cornwall — which is restrictive." Then on Jan. 27 Three more dolphins washed up on Cornwall beach.
17 January 2017 - ~81 dolphins (false killer whales) dead after stranding in Florida's Everglades. The dolphins were scattered along the hard-to-reach shoreline and deeply embedded in some of the mangroves, making it hard to retrieve them, said Mase, coordinator of NOAA's Southeast Marine Mammal Stranding Network. False killer whales, the fourth-largest dolphin, range in size from 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 m) long, weigh about 1,500 pounds (680 kg) and have a 60-year lifespan, according to NOAA's website.
Dead birds have been turning up since Wednesday. The sanctuary is caring for 14 pelicans that are still alive but lethargic and paralyzed, he said. They appear to have been poisoned by something, but by what is the mystery. Another 22 died, he said, along with an egret that may or may not be part of the pelican die-off.
And other wildlife rehabilitation facilities have taken in sick pelicans as well, said Barbara Walker of the Clearwater Audubon Society. "Nobody has a total," she said.
So far, the die-off hasn't approached the level of the one that plagued the Indian River Lagoon on the state's Atlantic coast between 2012 and 2013. During that time, more than 300 pelicans died, along with dozens of dolphins and more than 150 manatees. Scientists have yet to figure out what killed them — and the manatee die-off began again last year.
19 January 2017 - ~3 whales have been found dead during past month in Nayarit, Mexico. The first occurred on December 27 in La Puntilla in the municipality of Tecuala, the next was January 4 in Santiago Ixcuintla and the last cetacean died only 500 meters away where the death of the first animal was recorded in the Tecuala region on 10 January.
THREE WHALES, 10 WHALES, MAY NOT SEEM EXCESSIVE TO SOME, BUT WHEN WE ADD THEM ALL TOGETHER, TOTALS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE,IT IS AN ALARMING NUMBER OF DEAD WHALES, DOLPHINS, PELICANS, TURTLES, CRAB, LOBSTERS, STARFISH, HERRING, MACKEREL, SARDINES, JELLYFISH, EVERYTHING. IT'S SIMPLY MIND-BOGGLING TO SEE THE STATS.
~Tens of thousands of dead fish wash up on a beach in Kvarnakershamn, Sweden. Scores of dead fish were discovered in early January on the beach in Kvarnåkershamn. "There were 10,000's of dead fish, perhaps as many as 100,000.", says the county fish consultant Rolf Gydemo. It was the most bullheads, but even the occasional flounder, some cod and a number of seaweed leaches. All those living close to the seabed, says Håkan Mattsson.
[IT LOOKED AS THOUGH PEOPLE WERE COLLECTING THE DEAD AND DYING FISH TO EAT, WHILE SOME WERE PUTTING THEM IN LARGE COMMERCIAL BINS...TO, WHAT, SELL? SURELY NOT. ]
~ 12 dolphins have stranded and died this month in Asturias, Spain. "Some came alive and died in the sand unattended, and all were lying for several days, even weeks, without being withdrawn." "The decision to inspire the network of strandings without having viable alternatives for the care of marine fauna, without adequate means or trained personnel, is resulting in a real disaster of corpses lying on the beaches."
The first specimen, an adult humpback whale, was found dead on January 19 at Punta Estrella, 20 kilometers south of San Felipe, Baja California.
The next day, on January 20, a specimen of a Common Whale juvenile was found, in an advanced state of decomposition, three kilometers northwest of the coast of San Felipe. On the same day, another humpback whale was reported to be dead, at a juvenile stage, 12 kilometers northwest of Puerto de San Felipe. In addition, a long, adult, highly decomposed dolphin was located one kilometer south of the Campo Las Arenas Fishing Club, also in San Felipe.
IN THE SAME AREA IN 2015, the Federal Attorney's Office of Environmental Protection attended in the Upper Gulf of California two massive [die-offs]; The first case in January with 17 dolphin corpses and in March, 92 dolphins and four dead sea lions, 5,000 dead [sea] birds and then another 56 dolphins.
~3,700 dead birds found in the waters of Sacramento, California. Thousands of birds, mainly American coots, died suddenly in the Yolo Bypass last week. Wildlife specialists have spent the last three days picking up more than 3,700 dead bird carcasses from the shore. “It’s just shocking to see that kind of die off,” said Laurence Campling, who saw the birds on the ground. “I’ve never seen anything with that amount of birds dead in one place!
28 January 2017 - ~ Masses of dead fish washing up again on beaches in Florida, America. Dead fish are once again washing up along Suncoast beaches. The mass fish kills are being blamed on red tide, an algae bloom that causes reduced oxygen levels in area waters. Throughout Sarasota, going north into Manatee County and as far south as Venice, area beaches have been inundated with dead fish washing ashore. Officials say those who are sensitive to red tide and who have respiratory problems should avoid impacted areas. 3 February 2017 - ~ More than 400 dead dolphins found on north Peru coast in 1 month
"It's like wallpaper," Marine biologist Lisa-Ann Gershwin told ABC News. "They are just cheek by jowl. They are packed so tightly. It's a sea of blue."Gershwin said she had never seen so many jellyfish in her 25 years of research
"We've got an increased mortality … that we haven't been seeing in years," Dr Limpus said.The average hatchling survival rate is 85 per cent.
Deceased turtles in the dunes lead them to the nests where some hatchlings may still be alive beneath the surface and they work quickly to dig them up, separating the dead from the living.
“You could hear the sounds of splashing, of blowholes being cleared, of sighing,” said Cheree Morrison, a magazine writer and editor who first stumbled upon the whales. “The young ones were the worst. Crying is the only way to describe it.”
13 February 2017 - ~ Thousands of dead fish wash ashore in Cienaga, Colombia. The cause of the death of the fish has not been determined by the competent authorities, and only until the results of the samples taken in the area by Invemar are known, will the cause of the environmental tragedy be known.
Even more troublesome: The scene repeated three times here in less than two weeks.
ALL JUVENILES. The Chesapeake Bay whales appear to be a pack of juveniles between 2 and 3 years old, according to Costidis. Humpbacks don’t reach breeding age until they are between 6 and 10. Adults, who spend their winters in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, can grow up to 50 feet and weigh 25 to 40 tons. They can live as long as 50 years.The first whale showed up on the rocks of the south island of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and was towed to shore at Craney Island. Days later, a second washed up on the bay side of the Eastern Shore just north of Kiptopeke State Park. And last weekend another whale washed up in Virginia Beach at 80th Street.
Whale biologists said this group of young humpbacks likely stopped at the mouth of the bay to feed during a southerly migration and liked the food source – menhaden, small fish that abound here – and the deeper waters of the channel.
~ 86 sea turtles, many lobsters and crabs and 3 tons of krill found dead, in La Paz and Los Cabos, Mexico A total of 86 sea turtles were monitored, most of them Species Prieta, which remained in the beaches of San Jose del Cabo, Cabo Pulmo, La Ribera and Cabo del Este, from February 8 to 15, as well as in El Sargento , in La Paz. Each and every one of the turtles found on the coasts, had ben dead for more than 8 days, pointing out that at the same time, 3 tons of crustaceans known as Krill originated, which also showed signs of advanced decomposition.
In the case of Krill , these were found in different sites of Los Cabos , such as La Linea, Estancia, Piedras Bolas, Antares and Los Frailes Bay , recording likewise the death of lobsters and crabs on beaches Of Eastern Cape.
Nobody seems to know the cause of a mass fish kill along kilometres of the Cooloola Coast.
Thousands of dead fish were reported to Department of Environment and Heritage Protection between Teewah and Double Island Point.
And thousands more have been reported to The Gympie Times as lining the tide line along more than 1km at Rainbow Beach.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers from Rainbow Beach had also noted dead fish during their beach patrols, an EHP representative said on Friday.
"They are a small species of leatherjacket that often gather in dense schools."
Fifty-six dolphins and whales have washed up on beaches in Ireland so far this year making 2017 the worst on record for such strandings.
The number of deaths is a five-fold increase on the same period in 2010. They have prompted an unprecedented meeting this week between experts from state marine and wildlife agencies and fishing and trawler organisations to discover what is killing so many of the species.
“Every January and February, I see a non-stop stream of dead dolphins coming in all over the country. It’s something we didn’t get to the same level at all before 2011,” he said.
"BEFORE 2011..."
“One study suggests as little as 8% of dolphins dying at sea are actually recorded,” said Mr O’Connell.
WOULDN'T THE SAME HOLD TRUE OF ALL MARINE SPECIES? THERE'S JUST NO VALID WAY TO COUNT OUR LOSS. BUT IT'S PAST TIME WE TOOK HEED TO WHAT SO MANY DEATHS ARE TELLING US... THE GREATEST DANGER TO ALL OTHER LIFE ON EARTH IS... HUMAN BEINGS.
WHETHER THESE DEATHS ARE ATTRIBUTED TO CHEMICALS, OIL SPILLS, SHIPS' SONARS, TRAWLING AND NETTING, DUMPING RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL INTO THE SEAS, DUMPING RAW SEWAGE, TEST-FIRING MILITARY MUNITIONS, TO INCREASINGLY WARMER OCEANS, TO AN INCREASE IN ALGAE BLOOMS, MAN HAS A HAND IN ALL OF THAT.
ONLY HUMANS CAN CHANGE WHAT'S GONE WRONG. WILL WE CARE ENOUGH TO DO SO? WILL WE?
