Fishing Buoys, Creatures and Debris Carried Away By Japan Tsunami toi U.S. West Coast

Posted on December 28, 2011

Japan was hit with a devastating earthquake and tsunami on Friday, 11 March 2011 (the 2011 Tohoku earthquake). The tsunami destroyed over 125,000 businesses and homes and carried tons of debris into the ocean. Seattle oceanographer Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer says multiple fishing buoys washed away by the tsunami have started turning up on the shores of the U.S. West Coast. Ebbesmeyer says the buoys were confirmed to be from oyster farms from fishing villages in Japan that were hit by the tsunami. Take a look:

There are also reports of the Tsunami carrying hundreds of sea creatures from Japan to the U.S. A story in the South China Morning Post says a researcher has called the tsunami "one of the biggest unplanned natural experiments in marine biology."


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