Boat washed up at Ocean Shores may be from tsunami
Apr 29, 2014, 4:29 PM | Updated: 5:32 pm
State officials are checking out a small boat that washed onto a beach at Ocean Shores Monday to determine if it may have crossed the Pacific from the March 2011 tsunami off Japan. (Photo: Ocean Shores Police Department)
(Photo: Ocean Shores Police Department)
State authorities are checking a small boat that washed onto a beach at Ocean Shores Monday night to determine if it may have crossed the Pacific from the March 2011 tsunami off Japan.
Ecology Department spokeswoman Linda Kent says it was covered with gooseneck barnacles and seaweed. It was taken to a Washington State Parks maintenance facility where the marine life is being removed and tested for invasive species.
Kent says it’s obvious the boat was floating a long time, but there’s no indication yet where it came from. No oil or hazardous materials were found on the boat.
Another boat was found last Wednesday near Long Beach, also covered with marine life. It also was taken to a state maintenance facility and no sign of its origin was found.
Kent says there has been no confirmed tsunami debris since May 2013 when a skiff washed ashore at the Makah Nation Indian Reservation. In March 2013, a boat washed up near Long Beach with several non-native fish inside. The first tsunami debris, a 20-foot fiberglass boat, came ashore in June 2012 at Cape Disappointment State Park.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
