Pacific Northwest and Tsunami Debris.....

[sail7seas]

A few weeks ago, someone here started a thread about debris from Japan's horrific tsunami that has floated the thousands of miles across the Pacific and is landing on Alaska, Canadian and west coast U.S. shores. Some here said it was just the 'press' being hysterical with their reporting but today's images of the huge dock which floated transpacific to come ashore on Oregon's coast is not the press being hysterical. It is real and it is there and apparently carried with it all sorts of algae and marine life not seen prior in U.S.

 

I wonder if any cruisers have seen any of this debris on any shores/in any ports.

[edmusic]

Also, could a cruise ship run into one of those at night or do have some type of radar or sonar equipment to avoid a collision of things not seen by the eye?

[NoobCruise]

We have not. We're frequently on the beaches and bay in Monterey, California as my husband is an avid scuba diver. His dive club gathers for beach clean-up days every couple of months. They're doing another one this weekend. We have not heard of anyone in our area finding items that were clearly from Japan. Lots of garbage washes up on the beach, but most you can not identify where it's from. The dock that washed up on the beach in Oregon had a commemoration plack on it stating the date and city it was in. The soccer ball that washed up on shore in Alaska was covered in the teams signatures. The Harley Davidson motorcycle that washed up on shore in Canada had a Japanese license plate on it. Most garbage doesn't have anything to identify it so who's to say where it came from. I'd venture to guess we're seeing more garbage from Japan than we know of.

[travelmatron]

I understand your concern. People along the Oregon Coast tell us that things from Japan wash ashore all the time and have for years. We are just starting, in the Pacific Northwest, to see items that are identifiable as being from the tsunami. The first couple of things, the soccer ball and motorcycle were small enough that if a cruise ship bumped into them it would be of no consequence. This pier is really big. I would be surprised if any cruisers have seen debris in the ports yet, it seems that this is just starting.

 

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/06/tsunami-loosened_dock_on_orego.html

[sassyredhat]

There was something on MSN this morning about some debris hitting the Oregon coast. I didn't read the article, only the headline.

Pat

[NoobCruise]

Here's an article on the pier in Oregon

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/06/japan-tsunami-debris-oregon-dock_n_1574558.html?ref=green

[travelmatron]

Also, could a cruise ship run into one of those at night or do have some type of radar or sonar equipment to avoid a collision of things not seen by the eye?

 

I suppose that's the question, isn't it? The empty ship that was sunk a month or so ago was surely big enough that radar would have spotted it. This pier is made of concrete and metal, and would be much lower in the water than a ship. Oregonians involved in what to do with the pier seem to be surprised that it wasn't spotted until just before it came ashore...but then they weren't on a cruise ship looking for debris in their path either.

[innlady1]

Here's an article on the pier in Oregon

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/06/japan-tsunami-debris-oregon-dock_n_1574558.html?ref=green

 

That's pretty amazing, isn't it? :eek:

[NoobCruise]

Oregonians involved in what to do with the pier seem to be surprised that it wasn't spotted until just before it came ashore...but then they weren't on a cruise ship looking for debris in their path either.

 

It doesn't matter that they weren't on a cruise ship. The Coast Guard didn't see it coming, and they ARE on the look out. They know the debris is coming. They all thought between the satellites, radar, and sonar that anything big enough to damage a ship would be picked up. It wasn't.

 

I find this particularly interesting because my husband was stationed in Newport at USCG Station Yaquina Bay. We actually lived right across the street from where it washed up and have spent a lot of time on Agate Beach. Agate Beach is different then your average sandy beach. It is a beach of Agate stones

 

http://www.agatelady.com/agate-basics.html

[PathfinderEss]

We saw nothing on our recent cruise up the coast and then on to Alaska. I can't imagine seeing a 70 foot dock out there floating around, wow can you imagine?

[mr green]

I was on Coral Princess a couple of weeks ago, doing a B2B Vancover - Whittier, and we did not see, or hear of any debris being sighted.

 

john