Final session of the North Coast Speakers Series to focus on Fukushima tonight

The March 2011 disaster at Fukushima Japan will be featured as the final session of this springs North Coast Speakers series tonight, as the North Coast Initiative of the Vancouver Aquarium looks at the impacts of that event on the coastal areas of British Columbia.

Dr. Jay Cullen of the University of Victoria and Kate Le Souef of the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean Up will be the speakers, reviewing both the human and ecological story related to the Fukushima disaster and the volume of debris that has been found along the British Columbia shoreline.

As well, a portion of tonight's session will feature a look at updates on radioactive release and the transit from the Fukushima facility, providing some background on the anticipated levels of radioactive material that could reach the west coast of North America and what potential implications that it could deliver for both environmental and human health concerns.

This evening's session starts at 7:30 taking place at the Nisga'a Hall on Third Avenue West.

After tonight's presentation, the pair will travel to Terrace, where they will provide their review at the NWCC Longhouse on Thursday.

More background on Dr. Cullen's work related to issues surrounding the Fukushima disaster can be found from the Cullen Lab Facebook page.

There is more on the theme to be found from the Fukushima Inform website which you can review here.

The Prince Rupert and Terrace stops are part of a trip to the Northwest and Haida Gwaii, on Tuesday the Haida Gwaii Marine Stewardship Group hosted Dr. Cullen for his presentation.

Tonight's session brings marks a break for the Speaker's Series for the North Coast Initiative, with the information project set to take the summer off.  You can review some of their work over the last year through the postings to their twitter feed.