Now that Alaskans have lodged themselves firmly on the other side of a long and harsh winter, springtime coastal activities are turning up a rising amount of marine debris linked to the March 2011 tsunami in Japan.
Alaska's coastline is no stranger to the random gifts the tide likes to bring in. Northern beachcombers have a long history of collecting those treasured items that have made the Pacific crossing — namely the glass Japanese floats seen in so many such collections.
"More recently, over the last couple weeks, we're starting to hear reports of unusual quantities of debris in the Gulf of Alaska region," said Peter Murphy, NOAA's Marine Debris Program Coordinator. "There already is a lot of debris that comes ashore in those areas. But this is even more than usual."
Once debris has come into Alaska's current system, it will begin to land farther up along the coastline. Marine debris from Pacific Asia is seen in Alaska from the Inside Passage in Southeast to the Northwestern shores of Point Hope.
What's different this time is the volume.
People have been on the lookout for indications that the approximately 1.6 million tons of debris that remains on the ocean's surface has started to arrive.
A couple of token items have been identified as from the tsunami — a 150-foot derelict fishing vessel being the largest, and perhaps strangest, to appear as yet.
The odd thing about it, said Dave Gaudet, Marine Debris Program Coordinator for the Marine Conservation Alliance, was that it arrived upright. Most vessels likely capsized, he said, and either sank or are floating in the current bottoms up, making a slower trip overseas.
Most recently a soccer ball was found on the Gulf's Middleton Island. The ball was accurately traced to the tsunami impact area in Japan.
"It's an important piece of debris not just because it was unique," Murphy said, "but also because it's a poignant reminder of the human tragedy that this all started with."
The bulk of the items turning up are remnants of fishing industry gear — plastic and Styrofoam floats, plastic jugs — which are not necessarily directly linked to the tsunami, though their sheer volume suggests that's the case.
"What's been the greatest concern has been the large amount of foam," Gaudet said. "(We're) concerned because it breaks easily, (into) small parts, and gets into everything including some animals stomachs."
So far most of the planning done in response to debris arrival has been observational in nature. People are encouraged to send reports of findings, with pictures if possible, to disasterdebris(at)noaa.gov.
As far as what needs to actually be done with it, that process remains unclear.
There are several main difficulties with planning a response to an issue of this magnitude, Murphy said.
To begin with, debris is landing in places that are vastly different from one another. In some areas, with high population numbers and considerable beach traffic, debris is more easily dealt with through community involvement and local infrastructure.
In Alaska, it gets a little more complicated.
Alaska's coastline is largely unpopulated and difficult to access. This makes any cleanup plan expensive, time-consuming and a bit of a mystery at a time like the present.
The problem is really a place-by-place concern, Murphy said, and each location needs to decide how best to deal with its own level of impact — hopefully with the assistance of larger organizations.
"People are now starting to look around and go, 'Well, it's time,'" Gaudet said. "(But) there's not been a pot of money identified, and it's going to take some money."
Government officials are taking a step toward dealing with marine debris issues by holding a one-hour Senate hearing Thursday morning, at 10:30. That hearing will feature high-ranking employees from both NOAA and the Coast Guard.
Gaudet said he encourages concerned citizens to not only report their findings but also to relay their concerns for long-term cleanup to government bodies that have the authority to delegate such efforts.
This article was originally published in The Bristol Bay Times/Dutch Harbor Fisherman and is republished here with permission.