A small boat that washed ashore near Westport Jan. 15 has been confirmed as debris from the 2011 tsunami in Japan, according to the state Department of Ecology.
The boat was traced back to the Miyagi Prefecture, with the help of Japanese officials in a joint effort with Ecology and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Ecology spokeswoman Linda Kent said.
“It’s like a piece of detective work, basically,” she explained.
The owner was located, but did not want the boat returned, Kent added. The boat was disposed of.
Two other boats washed up last month and are suspected tsunami debris. On April 23, a small boat was found near Long Beach.
“That did not have enough on it to work on tracking down an owner, so that one’s also been disposed of,” Kent said.
On April 28, a small vessel was found near Ocean Shores covered in gooseneck barnacles and other marine life. That does have some identifying information and officials are currently in the process of tracing it. Kent said there is no estimate on how long confirmation will take.
“It can vary, because it depends what the identifying marker is, and what clues you have to go on as you’re looking for the boat owner,” she said. “Sometimes it’s a little more evident where the boat might have come from and sometimes it’s a little more detective work to figure that out.”
So far this year, there has been more debris than usual on Washington beaches.
“From April on we’ve been seeing a bit of an uptick in debris,” Kent said. “Typically, you would see an uptick in debris at this time of the year in general. This year we’ve had some winter storms, the coastal currents can shift, and both those types of things can drive debris toward the shore.”
Not all of the debris has been as large as the boats, and most of it probably isn’t from the Japanese tsunami, Kent noted.
“I think people forget marine debris is something that’s been an issue for a really long time, even before the tsunami. The debris from the tsunami is a really small portion of the debris out in the ocean and general,” she said.
But, when it is tsunami debris, Kent said it’s still worth trying to return it to its owner, even when the owner doesn’t end up recovering it.
This was an incredible human tragedy,” she said. “There was a lot of damage and a lot of loss of like. People are really touched by that human element of the whole thing. … Remembering this boat or this item belonged to a person who was affected by this event is one of the things people really have on their minds. In the back of people’s minds, too, there’s this question, ‘Oh, wow, what if that happened here?’ “
Kent said Ecology is also seeing an uptick in hazardous marine debris that should only be handled by experts.
“It’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen this year, but we did see more in the first half of last year,” she said. “When you come across a fuel canister or an oil drum or something like that, that’s when you want to make sure you call.”
Though a tsunami debris hotline established after the storm has since been deactivated, there are still several ways to report possible debris. For hazardous materials, call 1-800-OILS-911.
If it doesn’t look dangerous, people can email DisasterDebris@noaa.gov. NOAA is still tracking marine debris.
If there’s concern about invasive species, call 911 or 888-WDFW-AIS, or fill out an online report at http://ift.tt/1i1LQ75.
A running list of confirmed tsunami debris found on the Washington coast is available at http://ift.tt/1gQZf8m.
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