79 years ago, 23 US nuclear tests devastated Bikini Atoll; 70 years later, Stanford University reserachers found giant corals, sharks and tuna thriving in its crater

Once upon a time, Bikini Atoll was an idyllic paradise on the Pacific coast. 79 years ago, one nuclear experiment by the United States turned the magnificent coral reef into a scarred landscape. Bikini consisted of 23 small islands surrounding a vast turquoise lagoon, with white-gold beaches, coconut palms and dense tropical vegetation and a rich marine environment. However, this tranquil existence ended when the United States selected Bikini for nuclear weapons testing in 1946. The islanders were displaced, and 23 nuclear tests were conducted there between 1946 and 1958. As per a Guardian report, the USA dropped 23 nuclear bombs there. One of those bombs, in 1954, was 1,100 times bigger than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima!

The Discovery That Shocked Stanford

In 2017, a team of researchers from Stanford University was stunned to discover an abundance of marine life existing in a crater of Bikini Atoll, 70 years after it was declared a nuclear wasteland after bombings. Scientists looked at animals near the Chernobyl explosion and found some had strange shapes and changed forms. But a team from Stanford thinks the sea life in Bikini might have done much better.

The Bomb Crater Had Become A Home

Palumbi’s team said there were corals as big as cars and hundreds of fish, including tuna, snapper, crabs and sharks in the crater, devouring radioactive coconuts on the shore.


Palumbi noticed that the marine life around Bikini Atoll looks surprisingly healthy when viewed with the naked eye. The crabs, fish, and corals don't seem to have any clear signs of harm, and some coral groups have lived for many decades. There is also evidence that coral growth might have started again about 10 years after the last nuclear tests were done.

The lagoon now has big groups of fish swimming through healthy coral areas. Its long period of being alone has by accident protected ocean creatures from a lot of human interference, letting fish numbers grow, sharks stay in good numbers, and corals get really big. This has made a unique and eye-catching environment in a place that has a history of causing a lot of damage.

Palumbi concluded that as fish have short life spans, it is probable that the earlier fish died years ago and the fish in Bikini Atoll today are subjected to low amounts of radiation as they swim in and out of the atoll.

“This is the most destructive thing we have ever done to the ocean, dropping 23 atomic bombs on it, yet the ocean is really striving to come back to life,” Palumbi told The Guardian.

The researchers noted that though marine life has thrived at the Atoll, humans are still unable to live there – no one stays there after the 167 inhabitants relocated to other islands. A 2012 United Nations report observed that the water could not be drunk, the seafood could not be eaten, and no agriculture was possible due to the contaminated soil.

No Home For Men

According to a paper by Timothy J. Jorgensen, an associate professor of radiation medicine at Georgetown University, former residents of Bikini Atoll began developing cancers linked to radiation exposure in the 1960s. People who were downwind from the explosions got burnt and had lower blood counts.

People living on islands farther away had a higher chance of getting certain cancers, like thyroid cancer and leukaemia. They have been fighting a long legal battle with the United States to get compensation for years.

In 2023, an international group of marine researchers and US-based filmmakers travelled across Kiribati, Tongareva, Niue and the Republic of the Marshall Islands as part of the Pristine Seas initiative. One of their significant destinations was Bikini Atoll, once notorious for American nuclear weapons tests but now open to visitors interested in scuba diving and recreational fishing. According to a Forbes report, they found giant clams and reef fish, including vulnerable species such as large groupers.

Napoleon wrasse (a vulnerable reef predator) and bumphead parrotfish – which are instrumental for maintaining reef health and help erode dead coral and also graze algae. They also found sea turtles, sharks and sea birds such as the bristle-thighed curlew.