On Tuesday, April 18, from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Landing Mall, 115 E. Railroad Ave., Port Angeles, Dr. Jay Cullen of the University of Victoria will present a talk on the Fukushima Ocean Radionuclide Monitoring (InFORM) project.

The InFORM project is a partnership between academic, government, non-governmental organizations and citizen scientists to monitor the arrival of Fukushima-derived contamination, cesium-134 (t1/2 = ~2 years), cesium-137 (t1/2 = ~30 years) and iodine-129 (t1/2 = 15.7 million years) in the open Pacific and Arctic oceans and North American coastal waters.

In response to public demand, monitoring began in the fall of 2014, when models predicted the arrival of radionuclide contamination from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. Monitoring efforts will capture the peak of the radionuclide contamination, predicted to occur in local waters, utilizing a network to collect coastal, oceanic and marine biota samples.

This talk with present the methodology of data collection and findings of the various samples to date. Contamination levels continue to be below levels that are known to represent a significant threat to human or ecosystem health. The InFORM project will continue its monitoring efforts through 2019.

The cost for the talk is a $7 suggested donation, Feiro members are free. For questions or more information, contact Melissa Williams at melissaw@feiromarinelifecenter.org or call 360-417-6254.