Posted on 10/24/2011 12:59:09 PM PDT by LucyT
Some 5 to 20 million tons of debris--furniture, fishing boats, refrigerators--sucked into the Pacific Ocean in the wake of Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami are moving rapidly across the Pacific.
Researchers from the University of Hawaii tracking the wreckage estimate it could approach the U.S. West Coast in the next three years, the UK Daily Mail reports.
"We have a rough estimate of 5 to 20 million tons of debris coming from Japan,"
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Free, have you got a Geiger counter before you start to salvage this?
...at taxpayer expense.
From the link:
But even more grisly are the predictions of U.S. oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer, who is expecting human feet, still in their shoes, to wash up on the West Coast within three years.
‘I’m expecting parts of houses, whole boats and feet in sneakers to wash up,’ Mr Ebbesmeyer, a Seattle oceanographer who has spent decades tracking flotsam, told MailOnline.
Several thousand bodies were washed out to sea following the disaster and while most of the limbs will come apart and break down in the water, feet encased in shoes will float, Mr Ebbesmeyer said.
By year 2 or 3, much of that will have sunk to the bottom of the ocean. I question the map showing it will still be as large by year 7. Something else, how is it possible to gain debris? There wasn’t that much lost on day one of the tsunami but by the time it reaches CA, there’s enough debris to cover half the US - I don’t think so.
...and several thousand bodies...he’s right about the feet and sneakers, we have had exactly that float up onto our beaches; from the bodies of drowning victims.
As others have said, the pickings might prove profitable.
Tracked you down to wish you HAPPY 6th FReeper ANNIVERSARY;)
(and I forget where I left my car keys)!!!!!!!!!!!
I received this email in response an email I sent alerting NOAA to some debris I found on a beach in Oregon recently that looks to be Japanese in origin.
-J.H
As you know, it is very difficult to discern debris from the Japan tsunami event. Movement of Japan tsunami marine debris across the North Pacific Ocean this quickly is unlikely, but not outside the realm of possibility. We are working with numerous modelers to figure this out, as well as other partners to see if we can source-identify the debris that has been reported. Our findings will be published on our website, listed above.
If you are interested (and walk your local beach with some frequency), the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) has developed the attached Shoreline Survey Field Guide in order to evaluate and monitor the types and abundance of marine debris at a shoreline site. Effective monitoring of changes in environmental conditions, such as the abundance of marine debris, requires a good deal of forethought.
Monitoring projects should have clearly stated objectives and use agreed-upon methods and field measurements to allow for comparability of data with previous research and that conducted in other areas. Quality marine debris monitoring data can be used to assess spatial and temporal trends and measure the effectiveness of strategies to address the issue.
An electronic data sheet is provided to assist in your data analysis efforts. At this time the MDP does not have the capacity to regularly analyze monitoring data coming in from various groups. We are planning to conduct periodic calls for data; if you are interested in being included in data calls, please send an email to MD.monitoring@noaa.gov.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Best wishes for safe and informative shoreline surveys!
Neal Parry
NOAA Marine Debris
Jack Hydrazine wrote:
"I received this email in response an email I sent alerting NOAA to some debris I found on a beach in Oregon recently that looks to be Japanese in origin."
See letter at # 50.
Thanks, Jack Hydrazine.
You can catch a lot of dophlin(mahi-mahi) under debris offshore. Could be a bonanza for fishermen!!I’m gonna start building rods right now!!
I’m hoping for a new car here in CA!
The Tsunami was the cause of the nuclear condition when it swamped, and killed the backup generators disallowing the pumps to circulate the coolant IIRC, therefore the debris from the Tsunami was washed out to sea substantially prior to the breakdown of the nuclear facilities, and should therefore not be contaminated I would think.
Perhaps someone could clarify that for us. Seems to me this question pops up quite often.
Well Rodguy,
Looks like you and I need to get together for a fantastic fishing season coming soon to a west coast port of our choosing!
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