Japanese Pier Washes Up on Oregon Beach

The dock that washed ashore in Oregon is 66 feet long and covered with an estimated ton of marine life. Photo courtesy: Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation

A Japanese dock that ripped from its moorings during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and washed ashore in Oregon this week brought with it an estimated 100 tons of sea life.

Oregon State University (OSU) scientists said Thursday that there are about 13 pounds of organisms per square foot on the 66-foot-long dock, which has been traced to the Northeast coast of Japan. Tests show that the dock is not contaminated with radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown after the tsunami, but it did bring with it the danger of invasive species.

"This float is an island unlike any transoceanic debris we have ever seen," John Chapman, an OSU marine invasive species specialist, said in a statement. "Drifting boats lack such dense fouling communities, and few of these species are already on this coast. Nearly all of the species we've looked at were established on the float before the tsunami; few came after it was at sea."

Wakame, a known invasive seaweed, clinging to the "tsunami dock" on an Oregon beach. Photo courtesy: Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation

Among the hitchhikers are urchins, starfish, anemones, flealike crustaceans called amphipods, worms, mussels, limpets, snails, filter feeders called solitary tunicates, algae, and four to six species of barnacles, Chapman and his colleagues reported.

Estimates from the Japanese government and NASA suggest the monstrous tsunami swept up 5 million tons of debris, with about 70 percent sinking to the seafloor; the rest (1.5 million tons), like this huge dock, have been floating across the ocean. And although tsunami debris has likely been washing up on the west coast for months, the researchers were shocked to see such a rich raft of life make it all the way across the open Pacific, where food is scarce, to Newport, Ore.

"It is as if the float drifted over here by hugging the coasts, but that is of course impossible," Chapman said. "Life on the open ocean, while drifting, may be more gentle for these organisms than we initially suspected. Invertebrates can survive for months without food and the most abundant algae species may not have had the normal compliment of herbivores. Still, it is surprising."

Oregon state officials are organizing volunteers to scrape the dock clean of the organisms, which will be bagged and disposed of. Many of the species are not native to Oregon's shores, and could damage the state's ecosystem if they become established there.

Among the species on the Japanese dock are these exotic mussels (Mytilus edulis or M. galloprovicialis) and unknown barnacles. Photo courtesy: Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation

For example, a brown algae called Undaria pinnatifida was present over much of the dock, according to Jessica Miller, an ecologist at Oregon State. The algae is native to the western Pacific, but has established itself in southern California.

"To my knowledge it has not been reported north of Monterey, Calif., so this is something we need to watch out for," Miller said in a statement.

Likewise, small shore crabs found on the dock are similar enough to ones that live in Oregon that they could find a home on the state's coast. Oysters, clams, limpets, snails, mussels, sea stars and worms could also move in, Miller said.

These little creatures can have a big impact. The invasive zebra mussel, for example has grown so densely in some lakes and streams in the United States that no other species can survive. They even clog intakes for drinking water and for hydroelectric companies.

It's too soon to say whether any of the species on the dock bailed before reaching the beach, according to the Oregon State biologists.

"We have no evidence so far that anything from this float has established on our shores," said Chapman. "That will take time. However, we are vulnerable. One new introduced species is discovered in Yaquina Bay, only two miles away, every year. We hope that none of these species we are finding on this float will be among the new discoveries in years to come."

Japanese Tsunami Debris Hits Coast of Vancouver Island

The breathtakingly rugged shores of Tonkin Park in Tofino. Photo courtesy: tripadvisor.ca

My heart is breaking. One of my two favourite places in British Columbia, Ucluelet and Tofino on Vancouver Island, are under attack. Most of the Vancouver Island coastline is pristine shore that stretches for mile after scenic mile. That is changing. We all know about the tsunami that wiped out the Japanese nuclear power plant and the debris that was washed into the ocean. That debris has been washing up on American shores for a while now and has just started hitting Tofino shores.

Here's the update so far.

Curtis Ebbesmeyer, left, and John Anderson, show fishing buoys from Japan (set loose by the tsunami in March), that washed ashore in Forks, Washington. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ HO - Jim Ingraham via Yahoo!News

The B.C. government says it will begin working with national and municipal officials this January to prepare for the massive wave of debris heading to Pacific Northwest shores because of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Meanwhile, residents in the B.C. coastal community of Tofino are bracing themselves for the sad arrival of detritus from the devastating disaster, even while they debate amongst themselves whether the ruins have already started reaching the shore.

Julianne McCaffrey, a spokeswoman for the Emergency Management B.C., part of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, has confirmed the government is creating a Provincial Tsunami Debris Working Group.

She said the arrival of the debris, which some experts have argued covers an area the size of California, has raised some "complex jurisdictional issues," which the working group will clarify, so officials hope to identify key members by Jan. 6, 2012.

"In most cases, the federal government has authority in the water and immediate shorelines, and in most cases the local authority becomes the lead if the debris washes ashore in areas above the high tide line," McCaffrey said in an email to The Canadian Press.

"Occasionally, in the case of hazardous or human remains, it becomes provincial jurisdiction – which has not happened, so we cannot speak to hazards or issues that do not exist."

The provincial government's announcement comes as one U.S. expert confirms some flotsam, like 250-litre Japanese fishing buoys, has already landed on Pacific Northwest shores between Oregon and Alaska.

Computer models produced by the International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawaii had predicted that by the end of September, the debris field was still about 483 kilometres northwest of the Midway Islands, but scientists confirmed in a December website posting that some objects, like the fishing floats, could have already arrived in Washington state.

Meantime, locals in Tofino, B.C., located on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, wonder whether or not flotsam — like plastic water bottles with Japanese writing, toothbrushes and even socks tied to the tsunami — has already arrived.

The massive flotsam field is tied to the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan March 11, a double disaster that left as many as 21,000 people dead and washed millions of tonnes of debris into the Pacific ocean.

The tsunami also swamped the Fukushima nuclear-power plant, leading to fears that some of the debris could be contaminated by radioactive material.

Curtis Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer from Seattle, Wash., said he has confirmed that as many as six fishing buoys have washed ashore between mid-Oregon and Alaska and are tied to the Japanese tsunami.

Ebbesmeyer said he has sent photos of the buoys to a Japanese news wire service, which has passed the photos on to fishermen who have themselves consulted with locals.

He said those locals have identified the buoys as coming from oyster farms along the Japanese coast where the tsunami struck.

Ebbesmeyer said he has received a less-than-positive reaction to his warnings that some of the tsunami debris is already here.

"I just feel like Paul Revere riding around and no lights come on in the house because that's what's happening," he said.

Perry Schmunk, mayor of Tofino, B.C., said he has no doubt that some of the debris he found on a recent beach walk with his family is tied to the tsunami. He plans to introduce a resolution to council this January calling for support from more senior levels of government.

Schmunk said everything he has found has Japanese writing on it.

"The most alarming thing is in 10 minutes I saw more debris than I've seen in four years total," he said.

Schmunk said a town like Tofino is not equipped to deal with such a massive influx of flotsam, noting it doesn't have enough staff nor enough space in the local landfill.

"I am . . . of the opinion that we need to be prepared for the worst," he said. "Let's say hypothetically that debris field does stay intact and makes it all the way right to our shores, then we need to be able deal with it."

Yet others in town are not entirely convinced flotsam from the tsunami has arrived.

Jean-Paul Froment, a local surf shop owner, said while the bottles he's seen have Chinese, not Japanese writing on them, the lumber he's found on local beaches has Japanese markings.

Froment said in the past month, more than 50 pieces of lumber with Japanese marking have washed ashore, far more than normal, and locals are talking about how much debris is arriving.

"It is originating from Japan. Again, how it got here, who knows," he said, noting it could be coming from boats, freighters or the tsunami.

Jeff Mikus, a commercial fisherman for more than 20 years, said he's definitely not convinced the flotsam is from the tsunami, saying he hasn't seen any more debris on the shores or in the water than normal.

"I think people are just looking more now because, you know, it's coming," he said. "People are more aware of it so they start seeing stuff on the beach and they think, 'oh, God,' and they see a little bit of, you know, some kind of Asian writing of some sort," he said.

Mikus said he regularly finds plastic floats, corks, water bottles and shampoo bottles, and added that most of the fishing gear he buys in B.C. is made in Japan and has Japanese markings on it.

Mikus also said people forget how many ships pass Vancouver Island and some of the debris could be coming from them.

"You'd think you'd see a lot of stuff that would have a lot more growth on it, algae and barnacles and whatnot after floating around in the ocean that long," he added. "The few pictures I've seen of stuff doesn't look like it's been in the water that long."

Mikus said he believes the bulk of the flotsam is still a long way away.

"There might be a massive cleanup going on here in a year or two."

Ebbesmeyer, too, said he's not yet convinced the flotsam that's washing ashore on Vancouver Island is from the tsunami.

"I saw pictures of that debris and I couldn't tell either," he said.

"It doesn't look like the debris I'm talking about. I'm talking about much larger debris, the size of 55 gallon drums, which has been positively identified. I couldn't identify that debris as being other than sort of local debris or debris from fishing vessels or perhaps debris from cruise ships."

He said he agrees with Tofino residents that the issue is very confusing.

Ebbesmeyer said he's concerned that some of the debris washing ashore on Pacific Northwest beaches could be contaminated by radioactive material, suggesting Tofino should have at least one Geiger counter to measure radioactivity.

He also said people should be respectful of what they find, which could also include human remains and sentimental objects, like pictures in wooden frames protected by plastics.

"It's not just trash," he said. "It's the lives of 20,000 loved ones and their families that's arriving. It's a crash scene. It's the scene of an immense jet airliner that's crashed, albeit late over here. You know. Be respectful. Treat it as a crash scene, a crime scene and go about it very, very carefully."