Mussel Rock cleanup, Tsunami box crate floated-in from Japan

Pacifica Tribune/Jean Bartlett, Features Correspondent, 9/16/15. "Ocean find confirmed as tsunami debris."

"Every fourth Saturday of the month, father and son, Jeff and Paxton Christner, participate in the monthly Mussel Rock cleanup. The two Pacificans began picking up trash at Mussel Rock in 2007, the year Paxton turned eight.

Paxton and Jeff Christner
Mussel Rock cleanup team.
And don't forget all the other
devoted debris cleanup teams.

Without creating any additional damage to the Japanese lettering/markings on the July-discovered crate, Jeff removed clinging seagrass and mussels. Through online research and translation services, he established the top line on the crate said "Yamada Port" and the bottom line said "Terumaru." This led to the discovery of the name of the vessel which once housed the crate.

On September 1, the crate was officially confirmed as JTMD. The NOAA notified Jeff and his son that via the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco and the Japanese Government, the owner of the crate had been found. The owner did not want the crate back.

"The green crate we found is only the third confirmed JTMD find in California," Jeff noted, "and so far it is the only one found in the Bay Area. The first and second confirmed tsunami debris were both skiffs. One was found in Crescent City in 2013 and the other in Humboldt County in 2014."  Read article. 

Related, articles -  Pacifica Tribune/Jean Bartlett, Correspondent, 4/1/14. "Oceana High School freshman creates educational film on local trash cleanup." "Fourteen-year-old Paxton Christner has lived in Pacifica since he was 3. He attended Sunset Ridge Elementary and Ingrid B. Lacy Middle School, and is now a freshman at Oceana High School. On Saturday, March 22, at the Pacifica Beach Coalition's benefit screening of the Michael Apted/Curtis Hanson film "Chasing Mavericks" — a fundraiser for the Coalition's upcoming Earth Day of Action and EcoFest on April 26 — Paxton also delivered a film, the 4-1/2-minute "Regarding Sleds." It was filmed by Paxton and his dad Jeff as they hauled up trash, by sled, from the beach at Mussel Rock."  Live Science/Becky Oskin, Senior Writer, 5/7/15, "Japan Earthquake & Tsunami of March, 2011: Facts and Information."  For Fix Pacifica article reprints, search this blog: Japan Tsunami.

Related, organization funding. Pacifica Beach Coalition/Tsunami Debris Cleanups, "Our tsunami debris cleanup program partners and contributors."  "2014-2015. California Coastal Commission (official supporter) and following major statewide sponsors: Crystal Geyser, California Office of Emergency Services, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Oracle, Orrick, Protect Our Coast and Ocean Fund, Rubio’s Mexican Restaurant, and the California Coastal Commission’s WHALE TAIL® Grants Program."      Note photograph with his Dad by Jeff Christner from the related Pacifica Tribune/Bartlett article.  

Posted by Kathy Meeh