Dear EarthTalk: Is there any environmental risk from all that Japanese tsunami debris that is starting to wash up on the U.S. west coast?— Bailey Thigerson, Seattle

The Japanese government estimates that some 1.5 million tons of debris is afloat in the Pacific Ocean as a result of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. No one knows exactly how much of this debris will wash up on American shores or end up absorbed by the water column or trapped in mid-ocean gyres, but state coastal authorities from California to Alaska are readying response plans.

One certain threat is invasive species. Scientists from Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center confirmed the presence of dozens of species native to Japanese coastal waters—including barnacles, starfish, urchins, anemones, amphipods, worms, mussels, limpets, snails, solitary tunicates and algae—that were on a large floating dock in Japan that washed ashore at Agate Beach near Newport, Oregon in June 2012. According to researchers, the 66 foot long dock contained some 13 pounds of organisms per square foot, and an estimated 100 tons of living matter overall. While there is no evidence to date that anything from the float has established on U.S. shores, researchers fearing the worst but hoping for the best are continuing to monitor the situation.

Of course, what worries researchers more is that the dock may just be the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, in regard to what else might wash ashore. “I think that the dock is a forerunner of all the heavier stuff that's coming later, and amongst that heavier stuff are going to be a lot of drums full of chemicals that we won't be able to identify,” says Chris Pallister, president of the non-profit Gulf of Alaska Keeper, a group dedicated to cleaning marine debris from Alaska’s coastline. He worries that the onslaught of debris will be “far worse than any oil spill ... or any other environmental disaster we’ve faced on the West Coast” as a result of the sheer amount and variety of debris and the wide geographic scope it is likely to affect.

Officials at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) believe the Japanese tsunami debris has already spread over an area of the Pacific Ocean roughly three times the size of the contiguous United States. While some of the debris has already made landfall in the U.S., the bulk of it will take several more months to make it across the Pacific. Seattle-based oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer, who has been tracking huge gyres of trash in the ocean for two decades and runs the Beachcombers’ Alert website, thinks the majority of tsunami debris will reach U.S. shores as early as October 2012.

Another concern: Researchers were “startled” to find detectable levels of radioactivity from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in bluefin tuna, a favorite sushi fish, off the coast of California. While the levels of radioactive cesium were some 10 times higher than the amount measured in tuna off California in previous years, it is still below safe-to-eat limits in both Japan and the U.S. The researchers are continuing to study more bluefin tissue samples to see if elevated radiation levels persist, and are also looking into radiation levels in other long distance migratory species including sea turtles, sharks and seabirds.

CONTACTS: Hatfield Marine Science Center, www.hmsc.oregonstate.edu; NOAA, www.noaa.gov; Beachcombers’ Alert, www.beachcombersalert.org.

EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine ( www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe. Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

3 Comments

1. 1. sethdiyal 12:40 PM 8/3/12

   After the tsunami
   
   " the Chiba Oil refinery, near Tokyo, erupted into a 2 week firestorm even though it was far from the epicenter and released 10's of thousands of tons of some of the most deadly carcinogens ever known right into the air, water & land.."
   
   Remember that big fire we always saw in the background whenever Big Oil's media talked about FUKU. Ya that was it and yes we've got something to worry about.
   
   This compares to about 10 lbs of far less deadly but much more easily measured radioactive escapes from the reactor.
   
   

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2. 2. dwbd 01:55 PM 8/5/12

   "..Another concern: Researchers were “startled” to find detectable levels of radioactivity from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in bluefin tuna, ..."
   
   An IDIOTIC statement. You can detect radioisotopes in the most minute of quantities. The amounts detected were considerably less than the natural radioisotopes already present in the tuna. An another example of Big Oil sponsored Fear-Mongering.
   
   "...estimates that some 1.5 million tons of debris is afloat in the Pacific Ocean as a result of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster..."
   
   Another EVEN MORE IDIOTIC statement. Like the debris afloat has anything to do with the Nuclear Incident. I've been noticing this statement in the Big Oil sponsored Mainstream Media a lot lately, like "..20,000 deaths due to the tsunami and nuclear disaster..". Despicable disinformation tactics, people who don't have an ethical bone in their entire body disseminating Fear and Delusion.
   
   The Fact is the Nuclear Incident was ZERO DEATHs and the toxic debris had more to do with Oil and Gas fires, which released large quantities of asbestos, PAH's, Dioxins, PCBs, Furans, Heavy Metals like Mercury, Arsenic and other carcinogens into the Air, Sea and Land.
   
   

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3. 3. lewisness 12:53 PM 8/6/12

   Complete falsehood regarding the "100 tons" of living matter.
   "According to researchers, the 66 foot long dock contained some 13 pounds of organisms per square foot, and an estimated 100 tons of living matter overall." How was this calculated? The dock measures 66x19x7. Five sides in the water. 2,444 sq. ft. of surface area submerged. 81.83 lbs per sq ft of living matter overall? 100 tons? If this was correct it would sink. Total made-up number. I'm calling BS.

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