Tag Archives: University of Victoria
‘Once in a millennium’ rogue wave recorded off Ucluelet
A giant wave off Ucluelet in 2020 is the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded, says a group of Victoria scientists. The 17.6-metre swell. as high as a four-story building, was recorded with sensor buoys at Amphitrite Bank, about seven kilometers off Ucluelet. The wave recorded by MarineLabs off Ucluelet was 17.6 metres in a sea state with wave heights of six metres, so it was nearly three times the size of the waves around it. Video, >click to read< 16:15
Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster didn’t affect fish, humans in B.C., scientist says
Radioactive contamination following a nuclear power-plant disaster in Japan never reached unsafe levels in the north Pacific Ocean for either marine life or human health, says a British Columbia scientist. Chemical oceanographer Jay Cullen of the University of Victoria has monitored levels of contamination from radioactive isotopes, used in cancer therapies and medical imaging, since the meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in 2011 following a tsunami triggered by an earthquake. click here to read the story 18:29
Canada sidesteps protection of endangered fish, study finds
Endangered and threatened marine fish species in Canada are routinely refused protection by the federal government, contrary to scientists’ recommendations, a new study has found. In fact, the more endangered the fish are, the less likely they are to get protection under Canada’s endangered species legislation, researchers at the University of Victoria and the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax report. “It’s a bit of a perverse outcome,” Julia Baum, a University of Victoria biologist who co-authored the report, said during an interview with CBC Radio’s Quirks & Quarks that airs Saturday. Read the rest here 21:51
Japanese reactor radiation detected off Vancouver Island, B.C.
University of Victoria chemical oceanographer Jay Cullen said Monday that it’s the first time radiation has been found on the shorelines of North America since the quake and tsunami ravaged the Japanese north coast and disabled the nuclear reactor. “We’re more than a thousand-fold below even the drinking water standard in the coastal waters being sampled at this point. Those levels are much, much, much lower than what’s allowable in our drinking water.” Read the rest here 15:28
Ottawa withholding data on B.C. salmon farms: report
The federal government is hampering scientific research on fish diseases by refusing to release all of the data gathered from salmon farms on the West Coast, a new report by the University of Victoria has concluded. Read more here 05:05
