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Of the more than 700 species of reef fish at Bikini Atoll, three species
commonly eaten by the Marshallese and representative of a different feeding
habit were selected: the mullet, a plankton feeder; the convict surgeonfish,
a grazing herbivore; and the goatfish, a bottom-feeding carnivore. The
specific radionuclides found in fish and their concentrations are often
associated with feeding habits, hence this was a necessary consideration in
selecting samples representative of the kinds of fish which would be eaten
when the Bikinians return.
A fourth kind of reef fish, groupers, was also
collected as representative of the higher order carnivores.
The pelagic fish are all high-order carnivores and fall into two broad
subcategories:
resident lagoon fish (ulua, and dogtooth tuna) and migratory
fish (yellowfin tuna).
4.3
Pelagic fish specimens were caught in or near Eneu Pass.
BIRDS
Thousands of terns nest at Bikini Atoll, mostly on the western islands.
Both the birds and their eggs will be used by the natives as food. The
terns usually feed at sea (outside the lagoon or reefs) while the curlews
and turnstones feed along the shores and on the reef; the curlew also eats
the seeds of an endemic shrub, Scaevola serica, or the beach magnolia. Both
the curlews and the turnstones are present in small numbers, at most a few
hundred.
Although these two birds are transients, they contain the higher
levels of radionuclides among the birds.
4.4
INVERTEBRATES
The invertebrates sampled were the spiny lobsters (langouste), coconut
crab, and "giant" clams (Tridacna sp., and Hippopus hippopus).
5.
URINE SPECIMENS
A single urine specimen (24 hours) was obtained from the Trust
Territory resident at Bikini. Another specimen was obtained from a member
of the 1970 radiological survey team who had been on Bikini for 15 days and
who probably had not reached equilibrium. Analyses of these samples
indicated no detectable plutonium activity.
6.
SIMULATED HOUSE EXPERIMENT
During the 1970 survey, a simple experiment was conducted on Bikini
Island to determine how concrete living quarters made of aggregate obtained
from the Eneman, Lele, Bikdrin, Aerokojlol, and Aerokoj complex reduces the
exposure rate.
A concrete house was simulated by constructing a large, square container
with hollow walls 6-inches thick. The walls and the bottom 6 inches were
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