Japan's devastating tsunami from four years ago still produces ocean debris that have been washing up in the ocean where U.S. wildlife officials are growing concerned about.
This debris that has been drifting towards Washington state apparently harbor an environmental threat where invasive species and parasites have travelled across the Pacific.
According to the local state Department of Fish and Wildlife, there is another barnacle covered skiff from Japan that had found its way to U.S. waters, bringing in some invasive aquatic species from a 25 foot boat that was discovered from a remote shore near La Push, Clallam County.
The aquatic invasive control unit of the department is aiming to remove all marine debris in order to prevent the further spreading of invasive marine live that can develop into ecosystems, destroying the native biodiversity of the region.
According to unit coordinator Allen Pleus and unit technician Nancy Franco, their team has already intensively examined and searched through the boat's nooks and crannies for biological specimens which will then be shipped to scientists around the country for deeper analyses.
This Japanese boat is apparently the third project for the unit that reached the coast this year.
Since last year, more than 40 projects that involved tsunami debris have reached the Washington coast according to Pleus. The debris range from not only docks and boat remnants but also large objects such refrigerators and tires ever since the tsunami.
Most of these debris has already been covered and colonized by more than a dozen invasive species that were already thriving upon the unit's discovery.
Pleus adds that these species have already evolved into their own ecosystems during their time in the ocean, traveling across the Pacific. This is not natural since they are dwelling on man made objects that cannot disintegrate.
In March 11, 2011 a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit the coast of Japan sending devastation towards the coastal city of Fukushima among many others. It was also the most powerful earthquake that was recorded in Japan.
Apart from wreaking havoc on Japan's northern shore, it also caused major nuclear power plant meltdowns in Fukushima where almost 16,000 have died according to the Japanese government, sending almost 5 million tons of debris out to the sea.
According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, much of the debris bulk are still scattered around northern Hawaii oceans and the eastern Midway Atoll.