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Author Topic:   Pollution from Tsunami in 2011

jimh posted 09-30-2013 11:04 AM ET (US)
On the CBC news program The Fifth Estate, a recent broadcast looked at the problem of debris from the tsunami in Japan in 2011 being carried across the Pacific Ocean by currents and arriving on the shores of the Pacific Northwest. In the program, oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer was interviewed. (Readers may recall Curtis Ebbesmeyer from his contributions to CETACEA Page 76.) Regarding the debris coming ashore on Vancouver Island's Pacific coast, he noted that much of it is plastic. He observed that a pollutant like oil has a relatively short life, perhaps 30 to 40 years, but pollutants like plastic can last for a thousand years. He also noted that the debris washing ashore now is just the first of a long train of debris that is coming to North America, and much of it will be arriving on the Canadian coastline and might continue for a long time.
If you are in Canada or can use a Canadian proxy server, you can see a replay of the broadcast, entitled Second Wave, on-line at
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/2012-2013/second-wave

martyn1075 posted 09-30-2013 07:18 PM ET (US)
Thanks for this I'm from Vancouver and we have seen a bit of debris come through onto our beaches but up North West of Vancouver where the next stop is Japan is where you will se so much more. In fact on recent fishing trip across from the Queen Charlotte Islands we saw some stuff washed ashore. Not small pieces either very large sections of fishing boats just sitting there on the sand. A part of the world that is so peaceful quiet but has an eire wildness to it seeing this debris was kind of creepy.
Martyn
JMARTIN posted 09-30-2013 07:49 PM ET (US)
I carry a Sharpie with me when I walk the beaches in the PNW now. If I see something like styrofoam or some other man made item that looks like it might have come from Japan, I put some Japanese looking lettering on it with my Sharpie.
John
20dauntless posted 10-01-2013 01:59 PM ET (US)
Great show, Jim. On my trip around Vancouver Island this summer I visited many beaches open to the Pacific Ocean. Invariably, there was lots of plastic ashore. Much of the debris was bottles and jugs with Asian characters molded in. I'm not knowledgeable enough to identify which language(s) the characters were from. Many of the containers that didn't have Asian characters had Slavic looking characters.
The amount of debris on otherwise desolate beaches was kind of depressing.
JMARTIN posted 10-01-2013 02:24 PM ET (US)
I have not found anything that I could say for sure came from Japan in the San Juans, but I have not visited the outside islands much. The Japanese current hits a little North of us and I am not on the coast.
John
jcdawg83 posted 10-03-2013 10:03 AM ET (US)
With the combination of pollution, garbage, and consumption of natural resources; the Asian countries and people represent the greatest threat to the health of the planet, especially the Pacific ocean. China, in particular, is a cesspool of pollution and ruined waterways. Many Asian countries have a view of the oceans that the US abandoned 40 yrs ago. They see the ocean as a limitless garbage dump and ocean life as a birthright for the taking.
Until China and the other Asian countries change their habits, the Pacific will continue to get more polluted and trash filled.
Tom W Clark posted 10-03-2013 11:16 AM ET (US)
It is not just Vancouver Island that is getting debris from the 2011 tsunami, it is the entire West Coast from Alaska to California.
In Washington, we have been seeing debris on the beach for over a year now. A large floating dock landed on the coast with the Olympic National Park last fall:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/ washington-tsunami-debris_n_2497751.html
I visited the Dungeness Spit in the middle of the Straight of Juan de Fuca this summer. It is the longest sand spit in the US. They have a display of tsunami debris that has already been collected off of the beach there.
There will be much more coming.
http://marinedebris.wa.gov/
logjam posted 10-22-2013 05:18 AM ET (US)
Ivan Macfadyen aboard the S/V Funnel Web gives a pretty discouraging report of a crossing from Osaka to SanFrancisco and the amount of tsunami debris he encountered.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1848433/the-ocean-is-broken/?cs=12

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Author	Topic: Pollution from Tsunami in 2011
jimh	posted 09-30-2013 11:04 AM ET (US) On the CBC news program The Fifth Estate, a recent broadcast looked at the problem of debris from the tsunami in Japan in 2011 being carried across the Pacific Ocean by currents and arriving on the shores of the Pacific Northwest. In the program, oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer was interviewed. (Readers may recall Curtis Ebbesmeyer from his contributions to CETACEA Page 76.) Regarding the debris coming ashore on Vancouver Island's Pacific coast, he noted that much of it is plastic. He observed that a pollutant like oil has a relatively short life, perhaps 30 to 40 years, but pollutants like plastic can last for a thousand years. He also noted that the debris washing ashore now is just the first of a long train of debris that is coming to North America, and much of it will be arriving on the Canadian coastline and might continue for a long time. If you are in Canada or can use a Canadian proxy server, you can see a replay of the broadcast, entitled Second Wave, on-line at http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/2012-2013/second-wave
martyn1075	posted 09-30-2013 07:18 PM ET (US) Thanks for this I'm from Vancouver and we have seen a bit of debris come through onto our beaches but up North West of Vancouver where the next stop is Japan is where you will se so much more. In fact on recent fishing trip across from the Queen Charlotte Islands we saw some stuff washed ashore. Not small pieces either very large sections of fishing boats just sitting there on the sand. A part of the world that is so peaceful quiet but has an eire wildness to it seeing this debris was kind of creepy. Martyn
JMARTIN	posted 09-30-2013 07:49 PM ET (US) I carry a Sharpie with me when I walk the beaches in the PNW now. If I see something like styrofoam or some other man made item that looks like it might have come from Japan, I put some Japanese looking lettering on it with my Sharpie. John
20dauntless	posted 10-01-2013 01:59 PM ET (US) Great show, Jim. On my trip around Vancouver Island this summer I visited many beaches open to the Pacific Ocean. Invariably, there was lots of plastic ashore. Much of the debris was bottles and jugs with Asian characters molded in. I'm not knowledgeable enough to identify which language(s) the characters were from. Many of the containers that didn't have Asian characters had Slavic looking characters. The amount of debris on otherwise desolate beaches was kind of depressing.
JMARTIN	posted 10-01-2013 02:24 PM ET (US) I have not found anything that I could say for sure came from Japan in the San Juans, but I have not visited the outside islands much. The Japanese current hits a little North of us and I am not on the coast. John
jcdawg83	posted 10-03-2013 10:03 AM ET (US) With the combination of pollution, garbage, and consumption of natural resources; the Asian countries and people represent the greatest threat to the health of the planet, especially the Pacific ocean. China, in particular, is a cesspool of pollution and ruined waterways. Many Asian countries have a view of the oceans that the US abandoned 40 yrs ago. They see the ocean as a limitless garbage dump and ocean life as a birthright for the taking. Until China and the other Asian countries change their habits, the Pacific will continue to get more polluted and trash filled.
Tom W Clark	posted 10-03-2013 11:16 AM ET (US) It is not just Vancouver Island that is getting debris from the 2011 tsunami, it is the entire West Coast from Alaska to California. In Washington, we have been seeing debris on the beach for over a year now. A large floating dock landed on the coast with the Olympic National Park last fall: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/ washington-tsunami-debris_n_2497751.html I visited the Dungeness Spit in the middle of the Straight of Juan de Fuca this summer. It is the longest sand spit in the US. They have a display of tsunami debris that has already been collected off of the beach there. There will be much more coming. http://marinedebris.wa.gov/
logjam	posted 10-22-2013 05:18 AM ET (US) Ivan Macfadyen aboard the S/V Funnel Web gives a pretty discouraging report of a crossing from Osaka to SanFrancisco and the amount of tsunami debris he encountered. http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1848433/the-ocean-is-broken/?cs=12