Harley-Davidson found on BC shore could be from tsunami

A Canadian beachcomber has made an amazing discovery: A
Harley-Davidson motorcycle that could be the first debris
from the Japanese tsunami to wash up in British Columbia.

Peter Mark says he was riding his ATV along a remote
shoreline on Haida Gwaii islands north of Vancouver Island
when he came upon a large, white trailer. Inside he found
the surprisingly well preserved bike. Other than
significant rust, Mark says it was in very good condition.

“First I thought, this has got to be the craziest thing
anyone has ever found,” he tells the CBC.

“Then I looked a little closer and the license had
Japanese writing on it. The wall of the trailer had
Japanese print on the tags. The first thing that
popped into my head was this is likely from the tsunami in
Japan.”

The used motorcycle’s license plate shows it was
registered in Miyagi Prefecture, the devastated region
hardest hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, with more
than 11,000 people missing or killed in the area.

“I gotta say, the first thing that popped into my mind
when I was looking at the scene [was] I really wonder what
happened to this person. I really hope this person is OK,”
he said. “It’s quite a shock to actually see it and to
actually walk into it… [It’s] quite an eerie feeling,
knowing what happened to Japan and to those people. It
kind of hits home quite a bit.”

Mark says he made the discovery in an extremely remote
area accessible only by ATV. He left the trailer and
motorcycle there.

“I think the most important thing is that people treat the
things they find with respect,” he said. “These are parts
of people’s lives. Some people lost everything in the
disaster, and I think people have to keep that in mind
when they make a find like this.”