The Fish That Took Its Own X-ray

        On July 25th, 1946, The United States Military detonated the nuclear weapon known as “Helen of Bikini'' at Bikini Atoll. This nuclear experiment was known as The Baker Test, and it sought to examine the effect of a shallow-water nuclear explosion on surrounding naval vessels. After the explosion, naval crews were tasked with going back onto the test ships and decontaminating them. They would spray the ships with water, scrub the decks, and apply chemicals with the hope of removing all the radioactivity present on the vessels. However, all of these measures were futile, and staying near these ships was incredibly dangerous. Colonel Stafford Warren realized this and called for the crew to leave the contaminated zone. At first, the Navy was not convinced by Stafford’s concerns and things continued as usual. That was until Stafford pulled a surgeon fish out of the ocean and laid it on a photographic plate. The fish was so radioactive that it took its own X-ray on the plate. After seeing this horrific site, the Navy ended the cleanup operation. 

There were plans for another nuclear test after Baker, but the failed cleanup resulted in this no longer coming to fruition. This was the end of Operation Crossroads, but 20 more atomic operations occurred after this one. Nuclear testing in the Pacific was only getting started. 

Source: 

https://masterliveaboards.com/operation-crossroads-baker-test/