Last survivor after nuclear disaster may not be a cockroach

  • June 26, 2012
  • Amy Brown

It is sometimes said that cockroaches will be the only survivors of a nuclear disaster.

Not so!

Octopus and whelk (the latter being a marine snail) are both traditional seafoods in Japan. Each of these foods is back on the local menu in Fukushima, near the site of the nuclear disaster caused by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

It is being stated by Japanese government officials that their tests of octopus and whelk have come up with “no detectable amounts of radioactive cesium”.

The prices for seafood caught off Japan’s Fukushima coastline earlier this week are about half the price fetched before the disaster. Although consumers are still wary of radiation, there are lots of Japanese consumers willing to support Fukushima fishermen and eat their catch.

Fish, such as flounder and sea bass, cannot be sold yet due to radioactivity measurements exceeding the limit in radiation set by the Japanese government. However, crabs may be available soon as “no contamination had been detected” in crabs.

According to authorities, the octopus is a cephalopod mollusc with a relatively short life-expectancy. It can live for as little as six months, and up to five years.


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