There has been more than a few articles regarding potential radiation exposure circulating since the Fukushima nuclear disaster happened in 2011. Then, on July 22, 2013 when it was revealed that the plant was still leaking radiation into the ocean, the circulation of these articles was renewed. So the question is, are you at risk? Is your food supply at risk? Living in Hawaii, this has been a question I have often asked myself. So, let’s take a look at the articles out there and see if we can’t figure out what is really going on.

Some of the most worrisome reports are those regarding wildlife in the Pacific and along the west coast of the United States. In an article claiming that the media is lying to us about the radiation, Michael Snyder cites several news stories regarding the death or sickness of animals including star fish, bald eagles, birds in Alaska and Oregon, polar bears, and other animals. Snyder even includes links to the news articles so you can read them yourself, and I suggest you do.

When I clicked through and read the news stories on the animal deaths, none of the articles stated that the deaths were caused by radiation exposure (one article didn’t even mention radiation or Fukushima at all). What they did say was that the scientists were still conducting tests and they were not ruling anything out. So, Snyder takes that statement and turns it into “Fukushima radiation is killing off wildlife.”

Another report regarding the discovery of Fukushima radiation in bluefin tuna off the coast of California. has been blindly applied to all sea life of the Pacific. After reading the full report on the discovery of radiation in bluefin tuna, I found that these fish are known to swim back and forth from Japan to the U.S., so it says nothing of the fish that do not traverse the Pacific and instead stay in local waters.

I won’t get into the complete technicalities of everything in this post only because I think others have done a great job of that so far. I encourage you to read True facts about Ocean Radiation and the Fukushima Disaster for a great dissection of all the maps, radioactive isotopes released, and radiation levels etc. Kim Martini does a fantastic job in debunking a lot of the hysteria surrounding the Fukushima disaster.

It’s very easy to take these articles at face value and not do any further reading, but I think we all need to brush up on our critical thinking skills and do the research for ourselves. Take the time to make an informed decision, and remember that this is a decision that everyone needs to make for themselves. I’m not going to tell you whether you should or should not eat fish from the Pacific ocean, but what I can tell you is that I do. I also haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary with the wildlife here in Hawaii other than the increased incidents of shark attacks right as I am trying to take up snorkeling!