Our Pacific Nothwest: Tsunami Debris Continue to Invade PNW

Our Pacific Northwest

Tsunami Debris Continue to Invade PNW

Picture Via NPR



Last month, Empirical brought to light a Seattle Times report about scientists discovering a dock which landed on the shores of Olympic National Park believed to be floating remains of the calamitous earthquake which devastated Japan in 2011. Today, NPR has reported Alaskan beaches are also receiving debris from the tsunami, creating a headache for environmentalists in the region. According to the report, the debris spans across roughly 80 miles of Alaskan coastline, turning pristine coast into eye sores and creating hazards for wildlife. Among the debris are refrigerators, pieces of foam, and containers of kerosene, petroleum, and other chemicals. Cleanup efforts are stymied because funding for the clean up was recently re-directed to the bill for Hurricane Sandy relief, according to NPR. The debris lacks the immediate impact of other ecological disasters the region has endured in the past, but if the remains are neglected, it will eventually have a detrimental impact on one of the most sensitive regions of our Pacific Northwest.

Our Pacific Northwest: The Floating Remains of a Calamity

Our Pacific Northwest

The Floating Remains of a Calamity

The Seattle Times reported earlier this week that Washington scientists from the state’s ecological department will examine a dock that landed on the shores of Olympic National Park on the state’s northwestern tip. Why so much attention to a perceived useless floating piece of dock? According to the Times report, it is believed the debris is highly likely to have originated from the tsunami that devastated Japan in March 2011. Scientists point to evidence of the debris’ uncanny characteristics to one that floated on the Oregon shore near Newport, which has been confirmed to have broken lose from a fishing port in Japan. Representatives from the Park Service and Fish and Wildlife will be assigned the task of removing any of the 30 species identified on the dock considered to be invasive to the national park. The assessment of the dock could not only give state scientists insight, but also serve as a reminder of one of the greatest natural disasters in human history, traveling 32 months and roughly 5,000 miles to reach the shores of the Pacific Northwest.