Debris from the deadly earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan four years ago continues to wash ashore in the United States, covering shorelines in Oregon and Washington with litter from the tragedy and sometimes delivering live fish from Asia.
Scientists told television station
KGW-TV that debris will likely continue to litter the shoreline for at least another three years as an estimated one million tons of debris remain floating in the Pacific Ocean.
"Last year there was a medley of stuff," Russ Lewis, a clean-up volunteer told KGW-TV, noting that he saw the first debris wash ashore in November, 2011. "Baskets started showing up, lids and lately a lot of culinary items. When it first started out it was like a big mass of debris. Then it started separating out. It's been kind of a progression."
In February, the
Oregonian in Portland reported that a striped knifejaw fish, a native of Japan, China and Korea, was found in a fisherman's crab pot in Port Orford and was believed to have arrived with the wave of tsunami debris, according to scientists at the Hatfield Marine Science Center.
"We've known there are things associated with this debris that we don't see by the time it lands on the beach," said John Chapman, an aquatic invasive species specialist with Oregon State University.
The newspaper wrote that it was the second time knifejaws had reached the U.S. Northwest. In March 2013, five of the fish were found on a board that had drifted from Japan to Washington.
The newspaper said one fish survived and was taken to the Seaside Aquarium but four others were euthanized.
The
Oregon Parks and Recreation department suggests that citizens remove small tsunami debris from the shoreline but contact the state for larger debris or if debris can be traced back to an individual or group in Japan.
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