Alaskan Diseased Seals Being Tested For Fukushima Radiation

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Scientists in Alaska have virtually ruled out that scores of seals that have washed upon Alaska’s coastline since July had suffered from a virus and are now investigating the possibility that radiation from Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is the cause. The nuclear plant has been leaking radiation since a March earthquake and tsunami.

They have termed the disease “mysterious,” which includes bleeding lesions on hind flippers, skin irritation around the nose and eyes, and some hair loss on the fur coats of the seals.

“We recently received samples of seal tissue from diseased animals captured near St Lawrence Island with a request to examine the material for radioactivity,” said John Kelley, Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Marine Science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

“There is concern expressed by some members of the local communities that there may be some relationship to the Fukushima nuclear reactor’s damage,” he said.