Monstrous radioactive squid on California beach? Some actually believe these stories

Fabricated report just one of many that need to be debunked as concern about Fukushima radiation is turning into borderline hysteria

Photoshopped image showing what is said to be 160-foot “radioactive squid” is via Lightly Braised Turnip

Some people logged onto their computers Thursday morning and discovered an amazing story circulating on social media. Showcased was an image of a monstrous giant squid that had washed ashore on a Southern California beach (top photo).
The story, published by the Lightly Braised Turnip website, blamed leaking radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan for growing oversized sea creatures. Remarkably, some people believed the story, which quoted experts who don’t really exist.
As of early Thursday afternoon the story, from a website that produces more than its share of parody, had been Facebook “liked” more than 97,000 times.
Reads one of many comments: “The ‘gift’ that keeps on giving: Fukushima.”

Original image was captured in 2011 in Chile, where a real whale washed ashore. The top photo shows the same people standing around a “radioactive squid” made to look enormous

The hoax fits a common theme in that it’s one of many sensational—or in this case fabricated—reports fueling concerns that the Pacific Ocean is dying in the aftermath of the 2011 nuclear disaster.
Has this concern reached the point of hysteria?
Perhaps not yet, but more people seem to be falling for gloom-and-doom reports that are either sensational, baseless, fabricated … or all of the above.
This is especially evident in California, despite recent assurances by scientists that very low levels of radiation first detected two years ago have declined ever since, and are far below levels that are considered unsafe.

Giant squid discovered last October in Spain. This image was used to create the hoax image atop this post

Lightly Braised Turnip’s story pegged the squid at 160 feet long, and topped it with this headline: “Alarms sound over radioactive gigantism.”
Giant squid measure to about 33 feet, and it required only some basic detective work to uncover the original photos. The squid photo was captured in Spain last October (third image). The beached specimen measured 30 feet.
Where it sits in the cleverly photoshopped image atop this post should be a whale that washed ashore in Chile in 2011 (second image, or one that was captured in the same sequence).
Story officially debunked!
But real events also are being blamed on Fukushima.

Conjoined gray whale twins discovered Sunday in a Baja California lagoon. Credit: Jesus Gomez

After we broke the story Monday about the first-ever discovery of conjoined twin gray whales in a Baja California lagoon, many suspected radiation (fourth image).
“Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this isn’t related to Fukushima and the event with these whales being born as conjoined twins was just a fluke of nature,” reads one of the more reasonable comments.
Long before the 2011 Fukushima meltdown there was documentation of other whale species giving birth to conjoined twins. It’s a rare, but natural event.
Two deep-water oarfish that washed ashore in California, within a week of each other last October? RADIATION! 

Oarfish discovered last October at Catalina Island. Credit: Catalina Island Marine Institute

Deep Sea News points out some of the more sensational headlines that have appeared atop doom-and-gloom reports in the past few months. They include these gems:
“Holy Fukushima–Radiation from Japan Is Already Killing North Americans,” and “28 Signs That The West Coast Is Absolutely Being Fried With Radiation From Fukushima.”
These reports, Deep Sea News states, “are just plain garbage and were meant to scare people.”

Salps littering a portion of the abyssal plain off Central California. Credit: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

This week the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute felt compelled to debunk “misleading stories” about its own published research, pertaining to a natural die-off of salps—gelatinous midwater animals that eat algae—after a phenomenal reproduction event in 2012.
After the salps died, they sank thousands of feet and carpeted a portion of the abyssal plain, being studied by researchers.
One misleading story carried the headline: “Dead sea creatures cover 98 percent of the ocean floor off California.”
In truth, MBARI states, “Research actually suggested that there were MORE algae and salps living in California surface waters during 2011 and 2012 than during the previous 20 years.”
Meanwhile, in the San Francisco Bay area, scientists and public agencies this week are trying to assure people that beaches are safe despite an Internet video that recently surfaced, claiming that high radiation levels had been detected with a Geiger counter in the sand at Pacifica State Beach.
In the video, a man is shown displaying the Geiger counter and its high-level “alert” readings.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Geiger counters do measure radiation levels but cannot determine the source of radioactivity, and that tests by public health experts determined that the radiation came from natural sources, most likely ancient rocks eroded in nearby bluffs.
“There is no public health risk at California beaches due to radioactivity related to events at Fukushima,” the California Department of Public Health said.
Whether this will actually assure people, however, depends on their mindset.