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terials. But then water flow over the bottom and even sediment 

 transport itself can transport these materials into the deep Arctic 

 Ocean basin. Then in the water column itself, phytoplankton have 

 a tremendous ability to concentrate materials from the water, and 

 this accounts for the very effective passage of radionuclides and 

 other toxins into higher trophic levels, including fishes, mammals 

 £ind birds. 



Although our ultimate concern relates to the public health ef- 

 fects, understanding the oceanographic processes and the ecological 

 processes are both keys to evaluating the hazards. 



Now from the oceanographic perspective, the first priority must 

 be understanding the exact nature of the sources of the radio- 

 nuclides and, at this time, the scientists who are considering these 

 questions simply don't have hard information on the present dis- 

 ta*ibution. One step, of course, is the procurement of the existing 

 Russian information and the other is the conduct of new collabo- 

 rative measurements, which we hope will be underway with our 

 colleagues before long. 



Now the circulation of the Arctic Ocean is such that materials ac- 

 cumulating on the Barents Sea shall be likely to move out into the 

 Arctic Ocean, and it's unlikely that they will immediately travel to- 

 wards Alaska. There's a much greater potential danger for Alaska 

 from materials entering by the vast northward flowing rivers of 

 Russia. The East Siberian current which flows eastward along the 

 north Siberian Arctic coast transports materials and organisms 

 originating in the coastal fresh and marine waters of the Kara, 

 Laptev, and East Siberian Seas eastward. But we don't know 

 whether they are likely to reach the Chukchi Sea; maybe not. 

 That's a long distance to expect these waters to transport mate- 

 rials. But it's possible that pollution from the easternmost rivers 

 such as the Lena could make it to the Chukchi Sea. This needs to 

 be evaluated. 



We are also concerned about the hazards in the Bering Sea, be- 

 cause the Bering Sea is the most productive fishing ground in the 

 world. I don't think anybody's going to argue about that. This 

 needs special consideration. The food production from walleye pol- 

 lock captured in the Bering Sea could provide a mechanism for 

 transferring pollutants released into the Siberian and Kamchatka 

 Peninsula waters to people worldwide by the commercial fishery, 

 and especially to Alaskan Natives via subsistence harvest. Pollock 

 are also very important food for sea birds and mammals. And of 

 course, sea birds and mammals are also very important foods for 

 coastal resident populations. And therefore this is another mecha- 

 nism for transferring radionuclides to the coastal people. 



Now the Anadyr River, which enters western Bering Sea, enters 

 into an immensely productive area. This is possibly the most pro- 

 ductive region in the whole of the Arctic. This water that goes 

 through the Anadyr Gulf moves northward, mostly to the west of 

 St. Laurence Island, into the northern Bering Sea shelf, through 

 the Bering Strsdt on the west side, and into the Chukchi Sea and 

 onto the shelf. 



Now look at it this way. Almost the entire Alasksin population 

 of walrus feeds in that area. Enormously productive. Very big pop- 

 ulations of organisms live in the bottom. These walrus are feeding 



