---
title: "Mutton bird radiation warning!  Not safe to pick up stranded Short-tailed Shearwaters?"
---

# Mutton bird radiation warning!  Not safe to pick up stranded Short-tailed Shearwaters?

Normal 0 false false false EN-ZA X-NONE X-NONE  An on-line [news article](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-30/20110930-muttonbird-radiation-warning/3193736?section=tas) from ABC News suggests it may be unsafe to pick up Short-tailed *Puffinus tenuirostris* carcasses found stranded on Australia's coastline. This is because they may have picked up a radiation dose (presumably via the food chain) when in their non-breeding quarters in the North Pacific that emanated from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, which allowed radiation to escape following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami earlier this year.

 "A [Parks and Wildlife] spokeswoman says suggestions of radiation exposure in birds are being further investigated."  But the department says it is not seeking samples and discourages people unfamiliar with wildlife from collecting them.  You have been warned!

 ![](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Shearwaters/Short_tailed/short_tailed_shearwater_mark_carey.jpg "Short-tailed Shearwater: nuked in the North Pacific?  Photograph by Mark Carey")

 [Click here](https://acap.aq/component/option,com_search/ordering,/searchphrase,all/searchword,Sooty%20Shearwater/) to read that another "Mutton Bird", the Sooty Shearwater *P.g riseus* is considered safe to eat after testing for pesticides.

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 4 October 2011*