More Japanese tsunami debris expected this winter

Humm, treasure hunt?  (Jim Wagner)

Contra Costa Times/Associated Press/Alicia Chang, Science writer, 12/25/12.  "West Coast girds for more tsunami debris in winter."

A dock that washed up prior *

.... "The March 2011 disaster washed about 5 million tons of debris into the sea. Most of that sank, leaving an estimated 1 1/2 million tons afloat. No one knows how much debris—strewn across an area three times the size of the United States—is still adrift. Tsunami flotsam has already touched the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii this year. The West Coast is bracing for more sightings in the coming months as seasonal winds and coastal currents tend to drive marine wreckage ashore.   Like the past winter, scientists expect the bulk of the debris to end up in Alaska, Washington state, Oregon and British Columbia. Last week, the Coast Guard spotted a massive dock that possibly came from Japan on a wilderness beach in Washington state. 

....   Even in the absence of a direct connection, California coastal managers said it helps to know if a beach is being covered with more marine debris than usual.   ....  Health experts have said debris arriving on the West Coast is unlikely to be radioactive after having crossed thousands of miles of ocean. Tsunami waves swamped a nuclear power plant and swept debris into the ocean. The debris field, which once could be spotted from satellite and aerial photos, has dispersed. More than 18,000 residents were killed or went missing. 

Volunteer Julie Walters has combed Mussel Rock Beach south of San Francisco for wreckage, but all that's turned up so far are wave-battered boat parts and lumber of unknown origin. If she did find an object with a direct link, "I would find it quite intriguing that it made this incredible journey across the Pacific," said Walters, a volunteer with the Pacifica Beach Coalition. "It would also sadden me to think of the human tragedy."   Read article.    

*  Note:  The dock photograph by Rick Bowmer is from an Associated Press file.  This dock washed up one mile north of  Newport, Oregon, 6/6/12, reprinted on Fix Pacifica 6/9/12.  Related Fix Pacifica -  Tsunami articles.

Submitted by Jim Wagner 

Posted by Kathy Meeh