However, later reports on Sunday showed contamination 100, 000 times normal in water at reactor no 2, and 1, 850 times normal in the nearby sea, the most alarming levels since the crisis began.

The above-normal sea surface temperatures are maintained by gentle but giant waves of warm water that slosh across the Pacific from Indonesia toward South America.

He reported very powerful plumes of clear water rising upwards, with the craters containing the same diversity of microscopic life that can be found on rocks in normal sea conditions.