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, WA
Some 1.5 million tons of debris is afloat in the Pacific Ocean as a result of Japan's March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.
Credit: Wolfram Burner, courtesy Flickr
Pictured: A 66-foot long dock from Japan that made landfall in Oregon in June 2012. It contained an estimated 100 tons of living matter, including numerous species native to Japan but considered invasive here in the U.S.
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.
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.
In Spanish :
Querido DiálogoEcológico: ¿Hay algún riesgo ambiental de todos esos escombros del maremoto japonés que están comenzando a llegar a la costa oeste de EEUU? - Bailey Thigerson, Seattle, WA
Unas 1,5 millones de toneladas de escombros flotan ahora en el Oceano Pacífico a causa del terremoto, maremoto y desastre nuclear de Japón en marzo de 2011.
El gobierno japonés calcula que unas 1,5 millones de toneladas de escombros están flotando en el Océano Pacífico a consecuencia del terremoto, maremoto y desastre nuclear de japón en marzo de 2011. Nadie sabe exactamente cuánto de estos escombros tocarán las costas norteamericanas o acabarán siendo absorbidos por la columna de agua o atrapados en corrientes circulares oceánicas, pero las autoridades costeras desde California a Alaska están preparando planes de respuesta.
Una amenaza cierta son las especies invasoras. Los científicos con el Centro Hatfield de Ciencias Marinas de la Universidad Estatal de Oregón confirmaron la presencia de docenas de especies nativas de las aguas costeras japonesas—inclusive percebes, estrellas de mar, pilluelos, anémonas, anfipodos, gusanos, mejillones, lapas, caracoles, tunicates solitarios y algas—que estaban en un muelle flotante grande en Japón que tocó tierra en la Playa Agata cerca de Newport, Oregón en junio 2012. Según los investigadores, la dársena de 23 metros de largo tenía unos 6 kilos de organismos por pie cuadrado, y aproximadamente 100 toneladas de materia viva en total. Aunque no hay evidencia a la fecha que algo en estos escombros flotantes se haya establecido en las costas de EEUU, los investigadores, adoptando una posición de cautela, continúan vigilando la situación.
Por supuesto, lo que más preocupa a los investigadores es que el muelle puede ser sólo la punta del iceberg, por así decirlo, con respecto a lo que quizás llegue a tocar tierra. "Creo que la dársena es un precursor de todo el material más pesado que viene más tarde, y entre ese material más pesado habrán muchos barriles llenos de sustancias químicas que nosotros no podremos identificar," dice Chris Pallister, presidente del Gulf of Alaska Keeper, un ente no comercial, dedicado a la limpieza de escombros marinos del litoral de Alaska. Le preocupa que el asalto violento de escombros será "mucho peor que cualquier escape de petróleo... o cualquier otro desastre ambiental que hemos encarado en la costa Oeste" a consecuencia de la tremenda cantidad y variedad de escombros y el gran alcance geográfico que probablemente puedan afectar.
Funcionarios en EEUU con la Administración Nacional Oceánica y Atmosférica (NOAA) creen que los escombros japoneses del maremoto ya se han esparcido a través de un área del Océano Pacífico aproximadamente tres veces el tamaño de los EEUU contiguos. Aunque parte de los escombros ya han tocado tierra en EEUU, la mayoría de ellos tardarán varios meses más para completar el cruce a través del Pacífico. El oceanógrafo basado en Seattle Curtis Ebbesmeyer, que ha estado rastreando corrientes circulares inmensas de basura en el océano por dos décadas y opera el sitio web Beachcombers’ Alert, piensa que la mayoría de los escombros del maremoto alcanzarán las costas de EEUU hacia octubre de 2012.
Otra preocupación: Los investigadores están "horrorizados" de encontrar niveles perceptibles de radioactividad del desastre nuclear de Fukushima en el atún rojo, un pez predilecto para sushi de la costa de California. Aunque se vió que los niveles de cesio radioactivo eran unas 10 veces más altos que la cantidad medida en el atún de California en años anteriores, esto está todavía por debajo de los límites considerados como seguros tanto en Japón como EEUU. Los investigadores continúan estudiando más muestras de tejidos de atún rojo para ver si los niveles elevados de radiación persisten, y también estudian los niveles de radiación en otras especies migratorias de larga distancia, inclusive tortugas de mar, tiburones y aves marinas.
CONTACTOS: Hatfield Marine Science Center, www.hmsc.oregonstate.edu; NOAA,www.noaa.gov; Beachcombers’ Alert, www.beachcombersalert.org
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