of the fruit.
The juice may be used immediately or dried as fruit leather and
stored for later consumption.
Pandanus samples usually consisted of two large
fruits; fully matured fruits were collected when available.
Breadfruit was collected from most of the inhabited islands because it is
another
important
food
plant
are either baked or fried.
cooked
later.
Yellow
whenever possible.
Other
cultivated by the
Marshallese.
Ripe
breadfruit
It is also dried and preserved in the ground to be
to
yellowish-green
ripe
breadfruit
were
collected
A sample usually included five fruits.
vegetation
collected
were
papayas,
squash,
bananas,
and
Tacca.
Tacca is a perennial plant with root tubers that are processed into a starchy
material to be cooked or preserved for later use.
These food crops are not as
common in the diet as coconut, breadfruit, and Pandanus.
Animal samples collected by field
crabs, were purchased
purchased
animals
teams,
with the exception of coconut
from the Marshallese by the DOE representatives.
were
always
either
pigs
or chickens,
which
The
represent
the
major source of meat protein outside of imported canned meats.
The pigs were moved to a contamination-free area, and biologists wearing
surgical gloves carefully dissected from the animals the major organs: heart,
liver,
lung,
kidneys,
sternum,
and reproductive organs.
with the animal skin,
The major
organs
cartilage,
spleen,
skin,
tissue,
bone,
The organs were carefully removed to avoid contact
transferred to plastic bags,
removed
muscle
from
the
chicken
were
labeled,
muscle,
and then frozen.
liver,
bones,
skin,
members
while
gizzard, and heart.
Coconut
crabs
were
sometimes
collecting plant samples.
isolated
from
local
delicacy
and
taken
discovered
field
team
These large land crabs were usually found in areas
population centers
for
by
food
because
whenever
they are
discovered.
considered
Only
the
a great
muscle
and
hepatopancreas tissue was removed from the coconut crab.
Soil Sampling
In most cases,
soil profile samples were collected in the root zone of
sampled plants so that radionuclide concentrations measured in the plant tissue
could be compared to concentrations in the soil.
While the total soil volume
utilized
by
be
through
the
the
root
plant
zone
roots
are
could not
possibly
representative
encountered by the plant's roots.
of
the
sampled,
radionuclide
profiles
taken
concentration