A marine biologist at Cal State Long Beach has set out to identify the species and provenance of all the shells on the Watts Towers in South L.A. ||||| The official death toll from Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami passed the 10,000 mark Friday and was still climbing two weeks after the magnitude-9 quake struck off the northeastern coast and unleashed a cascade of disasters. 
 
 In this Wednesday, March 23, 2011 photo, a filtration plant in Kanamachi in Tokyo is seen. On Wednesday, city officials reported that radioactive iodine in Tokyo's tap water measured more than twice the... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co. via Kyodo News, lighting becomes available Thursday, March 24, 2011 in the control room of Unit 1 reactor at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear... (Associated Press) 
 
 A young girl is screened for radiation at a shelter for those evacuated from areas around the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, Thursday, March 24, 2011 in Fukushima, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. Radiation... (Associated Press) 
 
 Crew members of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN76) receive supply from USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE 7) Thursday, March 24, 2011 in waters off Japan's northeastern coast. The USS Ronald Reagan... (Associated Press) 
 
 A woman has her radiation screening results explained to her at a shelter for those evacuated from areas around the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, Thursday, March 24, 2011 in Fukushima, Fukushima prefecture,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Crew members of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN76) receive supply from USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE 7) Thursday, March 24, 2011 in waters off Japan's northeastern coast. USS Ronald Reagan participates... (Associated Press) 
 
 Farmer Sumiko Matsuno picks carrots on her farm to eat as she explains her fears no one will buy them with the current radiation fallout, Thursday, March 24, 2011 in Fukushima, Fukushima prefecture, Japan.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Farmer Sumiko Matsuno, left, and her freind, bag carrots on her farm to eat as she fears no one will buy them with the current radiation fallout, Thursday, March 24, 2011 in Fukushima, Fukushima prefecture,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Farmer Sumiko Matsuno picks carrots on her farm to eat as she fears no one will buy them with the current radiation fallout, Thursday, March 24, 2011 in Fukushima, Fukushima prefecture, Japan. Shops across... (Associated Press) 
 
 A mother feeds her baby at an evacuation center in Yamagata Prefecture, northern Japan, Thursday, March 24, 2011. Hundreds of thousands remain homeless, squeezed into temporary shelters without heat,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Vehicles line up for refuel as a gas station resumed the business in Minamisanriku, northeastern Japan, Thursday, March 24, 2011, following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and the subsequent crisis at... (Associated Press) 
 
 A woman washes clothes at a river in a devastated area in Miyako, northeastern Japan, Thursday, March 24, 2011, following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and the subsequent crisis at the Fukushima nuclear... (Associated Press) 
 
 A worker loads boxes containing bottles of water onto a truck to distribute to households with infants, at a warehouse in Tokyo Thursday, March 24, 2011. Anxiety over Japan's food and water supplies soared... (Associated Press) 
 
 A mother feeds her baby at an evacuation center in Yamagata Prefecture, northern Japan, Thursday, March 24, 2011. Hundreds of thousands remain homeless, squeezed into temporary shelters without heat,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Farmer Sumiko Matsuno picks carrots on her farm to eat as she explains her fears no one will buy them with the current radiation fallout, Thursday, March 24, 2011 in Fukushima, Fukushima prefecture, Japan.... (Associated Press) 
 
 A worker prepares to load boxes containing bottles of water onto a truck to distribute to households with infants, at a warehouse in Tokyo Thursday, March 24, 2011. Anxiety over Japan's food and water... (Associated Press) 
 
 Vehicles line up for refuel as a gas station resumed the business in Minamisanriku, northeastern Japan, Thursday, March 24, 2011, following the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and the subsequent crisis at... (Associated Press) 
 
 Medical workers in protective gear gather around an ambulance which arrived at a hospital in Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, carrying two workers from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi... (Associated Press) 
 
 Medical workers in protective gear gather around an ambulance which arrived at a hospital in Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, carrying two workers from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi... (Associated Press) 
 
 A worker loads boxes containing bottles of water onto a truck to distribute to households with infants, at a warehouse in Tokyo Thursday, March 24, 2011. Anxiety over Japan's food and water supplies soared... (Associated Press) 
 
 A delivery truck loaded with emergency material aid runs through debris on its way to an evacuation center in Minamisanriku, northeastern Japan, Wednesday, March 23, 2011, following the March 11 earthquake,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Hundreds of thousands of survivors are still camped out in temporary shelters. Some 660,000 households do not have water more than 209,000 do not have electricity. Damage could rise as high as $310 billion, the government said, making it the most costly natural disaster on record. 
 
 The total death toll from the disaster could rise much higher as the National Police Agency said more than 17,400 people are still missing. Those tallies may overlap, but police from one of the hardest-hit prefectures, Miyagi, estimate that the deaths will top 15,000 in that region alone. 
 
 Japan has been grappling with an avalanche of miseries that began with the March 11 quake, which ravaged the northeastern coast and damaged the critical cooling system at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, located 140 miles (220 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo. 
 
 As operators of the Fukushima plant struggled to get the cooling system operating again, radiation has seeped into the air and water, stoking fears about the safety of Japan's food and water supply. Radiation has been found in raw milk, seawater and 11 kinds of vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower and turnips, grown in areas around the plant. 
 
 Radioactive iodine is short-lived, with a half-life of eight days _ the length of time it takes for half of it to break down harmlessly. However, experts say infants are particularly vulnerable to radioactive iodine, which can cause thyroid cancer. 
 
 The U.S. and Australia have halted imports of Japanese dairy and produce from the region, Hong Kong said it would require that Japan perform safety checks on meat, eggs and seafood, and Canada said it would upgrade controls on imports of Japanese food products. Singapore, too, has banned the sale of milk, produce, meat and seafood from areas near the plant. 
 
 In Tokyo, residents stripped store shelves of bottled water and some other basic necessities after authorities said radioactive iodine in the tap water was more than twice what is considered safe for babies to drink. 
 
 "The first thought was that I need to buy bottles of water," said Reiko Matsumoto, a real estate agent and mother of a 5-year-old, who rushed to a nearby store to stock up on supplies. "I also don't know whether I can let her take a bath." 
 
 Tests conducted Thursday showed the levels in the city's water fell to acceptable limits for infants, but shot up in neighboring regions. 
 
 In Tokyo, government spokesman Yukio Edano pleaded for calm over the water contamination, and said the government was considering importing bottled water from other countries to cover any shortages. Officials urged residents to avoid panicked stockpiling and the city distributed bottled waters to families with infants. 
 
 New readings Thursday showed the city's tap water was back to levels acceptable for infants, but the relief was tempered by elevated levels of the isotope in two neighboring prefectures: Chiba and Saitama. A city in a third prefecture, just south of the plant, also showed high levels of radioactive iodine in tap water, officials said. 
 
 Tap water in Kawaguchi City in Saitama, north of Tokyo, contained 210 becquerels of radioactive iodine _ well above the 100 becquerels considered safe for babies but below the 300-becquerel level for adults, Health Ministry official Shogo Misawa said. 
 
 In Chiba prefecture, the water tested high for radiation in two separate areas, said water safety official Kyoji Narita. The government there warned families in 11 cities in Chiba not to give infants tap water. 
 
 "The high level of iodine was due to the nuclear disaster," Narita said. "There is no question about it." 
 
 Radiation levels also tested dangerously high in Hitachi in Ibaraki prefecture, about 70 miles (120 kilometers) south of the Fukushima plant, city water official Toshifumi Suzuki said. 
 
 In Fukushima, plant operators were still struggling to get the cooling system operating again. Lighting was restored Thursday to the central control room at Unit 1 for the first time since the tsunami, but two workers were treated at a hospital after stepping into radiation-contaminated water. 
 
 The water seeped over the top of their boots and onto their legs, said Takashi Kurita, spokesman for plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Co. 
 
 The men will be transferred to a radiology medical institute Friday, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, another nuclear agency spokesman. Their injuries were not life-threatening. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi, Elaine Kurtenbach and Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report. ||||| At a downtown grocery store, a line of anxious mothers cleaned the shelves of bottled water seven minutes after the doors opened. At an organic farm on the city’s outskirts, a group tested spinach with a hand-held radiation detector. And at the prime minister’s headquarters, the chief cabinet secretary announced that Japan is considering importing drinking water. 
 
 As emergency crews battled Thursday to contain nuclear fallout from the earthquake-hit Fukushima Daiichi power plant in northeast Japan, a nervous uncertainty spread as far away as Tokyo, 150 miles to the southwest, as radiation was reported in parts of the food chain and millions tried to understand the implications. 
 
 In Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported Thursday that Japanese scientists have found “measurable concentrations” of radioactive iodine-131 and cesium-137 in samples of seawater collected off the Fukushima prefecture coast. 
 
 “The iodine concentrations were at or above Japanese regulatory limits, and the cesium levels were well below those limits,” the IAEA said on its Web site. The samples were gathered Tuesday and Wednesday at several points 18.6 miles from shore, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said. 
 
 A day after Tokyo officials warned of elevated iodine levels in the city’s tap water and the national government restricted shipment of 11 leafy vegetables in several prefectures, residents scrambled to stock up on the essentials, which are now in short supply. 
 
 Tokyo officials distributed 240,000 bottles of water to households with infants, who are more vulnerable to radioactive iodine-131. The U.S. Embassy handed out to American citizens potassium iodide pills, which can block radioactive iodine from building up in the thyroid gland. 
 
 “If the situation isn’t better in one week, I actually might have to move in with my parents,” said Yuki Ochiai, 32, mother of an 8-month-old girl who was among two dozen customers in line at the Tokyu grocery store 20 minutes before it opened. “My husband is already encouraging me to leave.” 
 
 As residents fretted, the number of deaths from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami officially topped 10,000, the National Police Agency said Friday. More than 17,000 people remain missing. 
 
 Two weeks after the quake, Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan is scheduled to address the nation at 7:30 p.m. Friday, his spokesman said. 
 
 Meanwhile, the struggle to prevent more radiation from escaping the nuclear plant continued. Engineers hooked up lighting to a control room at the unit 1 reactor Thursday — an incremental, but hopeful, step toward cooling overheated spent fuel rods. At the unit 3 reactor, workers prepared to test a cooling pump that would allow them to pour in fresh rainwater instead of less effective seawater. 
 
 But there were setbacks. Three workers suffered radiation burns after stepping in contaminated water while attempting to lay electrical wiring at one of the buildings. Two of the workers, exposed to 170 to 180 millisieverts of radiation, were hospitalized, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, who did not disclose the status of the third employee. The Associated Press quoted Fumio Matsuda, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, as saying that radiation levels of 170 to 180 millisieverts were well below the maximum 250 millisieverts allowed for workers. 
 
 Officials said Friday they are investigating possible damage to the reactor vessel at unit 3 that could be allowing dangerous radiation to leak into the atmosphere. 
 
 Government authorities said they are analyzing the reactor’s vessel, pipes and valves for potential damage that could be causing a leak. That reactor is considered particularly dangerous because it is the only one that burns mox fuel, a combination of plutonium and uranium that is hotter than conventional uranium reactors. 
 
 “Looking at the data, we believe the No. 3 vessel still has the capacity to contain radioactive material,” Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director-general of the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said at a news conference. “But we have to investigate … the possibility the No. 3 reactor has sustained damage.” 
 
 The setback is the latest in a fitful effort to contain nuclear fallout at the Daiichi power plant. Crews have attached power cables to try to restore electricity, but only two of the six facility’s six reactors have successfully been put into cold shutdown. Twice this week, workers were evacuated after smoke was seen rising from the buildings, though officials later said the smoke was caused by steam that is not harmful. 
 
 The nervous uncertainty over the food chain Thursday sent people sifting through information about the complicated and rapidly changing problem. In Chiba and Saitama, two prefectures neighboring Tokyo, officials discovered iodine levels exceeding the legal limit for infants. Yet Tokyo’s water, which had tested high a day earlier, showed a decrease Thursday. 
 
 For some, the brief water warning was a tipping point, a sign that the environment had become a threat. At the Tokyu grocery, an employee opened the store doors at 10 a.m. and a half-dozen pregnant women and young mothers rushed to the far aisle. 
 
 Within seven minutes, all 80 two-liter bottles were gone. Ochiai, cradling her daughter, held two of them. Her parents, who live in Hokkaido, a northern island, were sending 12 more bottles of water by airmail, she said. 
 
 “I actually feel sorry standing here with my two bottles of water,” Ochiai said. “All these other mothers are here now, and they are too late.” 
 
 As parents worried about supply, farmers brooded over the demand for their food, tainted by the government’s advisory that residents not eat 11 leafy vegetables grown in prefectures near the Daiichi facility, citing elevated levels of radioactive materials in them. 
 
 The advisory has left farmers nationwide wondering about the effect on their livelihood as consumers weigh the risks. 
 
 At a spinach farm in Chiba, about 11 / 2 hours outside Tokyo, the proprietor, Masayuki Kumate, 45, looked on as Sumito Hatta, a food researcher, used a dosimeter to take a radioactivity reading of a lone row of green plants sprouting from the dark brown soil. 
 
 Kumate shook his head. Although Chiba officials had not banned any produce, Kumate said he has “been worried since Day One” of the disaster. 
 
 “It’s so clear what was going to happen,” he said of the nuclear fallout. “For Fukushima farmers, it is impossible [to recover]. The soil is contaminated. They will have to get rid of that before they start again. It takes a very long time. It will be a very big problem.” 
 
 Hatta and a friend, Shinya Takeda, started a blog and a Facebook page dedicated to informing the Japanese people and the world about the plight facing Japan’s farmers and asking for donations. 
 
 Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries sent a letter to banks this week encouraging them to provide loans to farmers seeking to rebuild. And the government has pledged that the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the nuclear plant, will provide stipends to farmers whose crops have been contaminated. 
 
 “The farmlands that were soaked with saltwater will not be revived as farmland,” the Facebook page reads. “This reality is another destruction for the farmers. . . . Now people in Japan are buying up all food at supermarkets and oil at gas stations due to the anxiety. Our food sovereignty is in great danger.” 
 
 Special correspondents Akiko Yamamoto and Kyoko Tanaka contributed to this report.
– A sad milestone out of Japan: Two weeks after the quake struck, its official death toll has broken the 10,000 mark—and that number is still on the rise, with more than 17,400 missing. Police estimate the toll will surpass 15,000 in the hardest-hit prefecture alone. Among survivors, hundreds of thousands remain in temporary shelters, 660,000 homes lack water, and 209,000 have no electricity. And with the damage expected to cost as much as $310 billion, it’s set to be the most expensive natural disaster in recorded history, the AP reports. Japan has extended the evacuation zone from a 12-mile radius around the troubled Fukushima plant to an 18-mile one, notes the Los Angeles Times. Water is in short supply as bottles fly off the shelves; the government is weighing importing drinking water. Even in Tokyo, 150 miles from the plant, there are reports of radiation in the food chain. The government has now restricted sales of 11 leafy vegetables, prompting farmers’ fear for their livelihood, reports the Washington Post.