A call for Citizen Scientists that suits paddlers well!

Louise spotted this call for volunteer Citizen Scientists, and passed it along to me. It will be of particular interest to paddlers living along Canada's west coast and Haida Gwai, in communities like Hartley Bay.
InFORM is a non-governmental organization of universities, groups, Health Canada, and citizens gathering data on the radioactive fallout from the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan during 2011. They're listed on their website as 

Integrated Fukushima Ocean Radionuclide Monitoring (InFORM) Network: 

A collaborative radiation monitoring network to determine and communicate environmental risks for Canada’s Pacific and Arctic Oceans from the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear accident

I'll just add the note here, if the word "radiation" is giving you the willies, that everything I've heard (from newspapers, science journals, and the University of Victoria) says that while some radiation from Fukushima did reach Canada, it was only in very small amounts, measured and tracked. This call for volunteer Citizen Scientists is part of a program to keep gathering water samples to test. 
It's a great thing to know that our scientists are continuing to measure the tiny amounts of Cesium that drifted across the Pacific. There's not enough radiation to be a threat to our health, so we paddlers can take to the water with confidence.

Mental Floss

The wind is howling a gale this morning, and I don't feel like paddling, but my memory is turning to recent events.
We had a good time in Cadboro Bay late in March. What a great day that was to be on the water! Cool enough that we didn't overheat, warm enough that Louise didn't have to put on the pogies she had ready on her kayak's deck. We didn't have to set a new speed record, or go any farther from shore than Jemmy Jones. It was a treat to slip out there and then cross to the big rock garden along the Uplands shore. Every rock we passed had a memory, out to Mary Tod Island and back.
I thought about that trip while watching the news reports from Japan after the earthquake and during the tsunami. We're so familiar with waves from our times on the water that it's too easy to see a tidal wave as simply another wave. But the shape of that wave is different. It just seems wrong to see a wave that piles so high and then keeps pushing, farther and farther inland, and then gradually draining away, pulling smashed objects with it.
The smashed shoreline in Japan, and the damaged shoreline in parts of Hawaii and California, brought home the damage a tsunami can do. Along the coast of BC, there were tsunami warnings and in some areas, like Victoria, a tsunami watch.
The community of Port Alberni took the tsunami warning seriously -- they're at the end of a long, narrow fjord. There's been damage in the past at this and other communities in similar locations. This warning turned out to be a dry run and a good test of the evacuation plans. If you go to Port Alberni, you can see roadside signs in areas that would be at risk during a tsunami, and signs that show where to go to be on high ground. Planning isn't enough, as people in Japan learned during their great earthquake and tsunami. But it can help us avoid obvious mistakes.

Hear that Tsunami Warning!

Found something nifty on Rich's flicker account among his photographs -- a short video with an audio recording of the tsunami warning that he heard when he was paddling out in Oak Bay. Check it out here! Or here at his blogpost.
The earthquake in Chile seems to be well-reported. There are several news articles about it on google at this link. It looks like there will be some Canadian soldiers sent there to be part of the relief program -- Bernie's cousin Tammy is spending two more weeks in Haiti and then she may be sent to Chile.
This is one more opportunity to remind everyone on the West Coast that we're in an earthquake zone, people! Keep a small backpack full of emergency stuff at all times! Amazing how much a kayaking dunk bag is very much like an emergency kit for earthquakes and other emergencies, ya know?
And keep some food and water ready in case the power and water stop working after an earthquake or other disaster. Even if you live in a tall apartment building, be prepared. It doesn't hurt to keep a sealed box out back in a shed, too, where it's easy to find when buildings fall down. You can always use the stuff when kayak camping, and put new stuff in after your trip. I'm just sayin'.

Tsunami Warning!

Due to a massive earthquake in Chile, there was a tsunami warning all along the west coast of North America. Our paddling friends Rich and Mike each heard the warning on their marine VHF radios while paddling in waters near Victoria, and headed in to shore. Mike wrote briefly about his experience here. Rich wrote about his here.