Science Practice

Long-distance swimmer Ben Lecomte visited WHOI in July to prepare for his attempt to swim across the Pacific Ocean later in 2015. He was here to learn how to collect and process samples of cesium from seawater. These tell WHOI chemist Ken Buesseler how much radiation there is in a particular sample from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. Lecomte will be collecting samples throughout his swim to help Buesseler and others better understand where and how fast the contamination has spread. (Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)