Best of 2012 June – Huge Japanese ‘Tsunami’ Dock Washes Up On Oregon Coast

In a few months, these stories will be old hat, perhaps.  But for now, it's fascinating to see what washes up next on our shores from the Japanese tsunami from last year.

Ever since last spring's tsunami that ravaged the Japanese coast (and triggered the Fukushkima nuclear emergency) debris has been making it's way across the Pacific Ocean;   and now items of every imaginable shape and size have been washing up on the coast of OR and WA.

First, it was lumber, then remember the Japanese ghost ship?  The fishing ship that was due to be scrapped but got yanked out to sea by the waves.  It was sunk off the coast of Canada by the US Coast Guard.   Now, the latest visitor is a huge dock that is now on the Agate Beach just north of Newport.  The dock, made of metal and conrete, is 7 feet tall, 19 feet wide, and 66 feet long!   It even has a nameplate on the side in Japanese letters indicating it's manufacture date, and information about the harbor where it was anchored.

While officials claim there is no obvious evidence it crossed the ocean,  they are at a loss to explain how it got there. A quick check of shipping lists and other such details show no vessels in recent months were carrying or towing such a dock.

This is the latest in what experts say will be a steady stream of tsunami debris coming over from Japan for perhaps the next year.

(NOTE: The dock was eventually scrubbed free of the toxic foreign plantlife, cut into pieces, moved and buried away from shore, but not before it became the biggest tourist attraction of the summer on the Oregon Coast!)