Posted: Mar 26, 2018 6:02 am
We're looking at a large archipelago of over 90,000 km2 here, so even with all the nuclear tests that were carried out it's not like the islands were going to be rendered completely uninhabitable. There are even still some human settlements on Yuzhny island, so to that extent the ability of bees to survive seems unremarkable.
Even on much smaller nuclear test islands such as Bikini Atoll, much of the native wildlife has managed to make a comeback with a lot of crabs, corals and fishes thriving in the highly radioactive waters. That's not to say that it won't have been catastrophic for some species, or that atmospheric nuclear testing is anything other than completely unacceptable in general, but nature is after all rather resilient.
Even on much smaller nuclear test islands such as Bikini Atoll, much of the native wildlife has managed to make a comeback with a lot of crabs, corals and fishes thriving in the highly radioactive waters. That's not to say that it won't have been catastrophic for some species, or that atmospheric nuclear testing is anything other than completely unacceptable in general, but nature is after all rather resilient.