PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) — An official from the Japanese consulate in Seattle has visited the home of a Port Angeles man to inspect a large black float he found near Neah Bay to determine if it's some of the first debris from the tsunami that hit Japan last March.
People think it's a float from an oyster farm near Sendai. Arnold Schouten found it in December at an isolated beach near Neah Bay.
At the time of its discovery, Seattle oceanographers Curtis Ebbesmeyer and Jim Ingraham said it's the first piece of debris that could be identified as washing up on the West Coast from the March 11 tsunami.
The floats have since been found on Vancouver Island and the scientists believe they traveled faster because it sits on top of the water and caught the wind.
The consulate official, Tomoko Dodo, is sending her photos of the float and notes to Tokyo to be examined by experts.
Tsunami debris is expected to reach the Washington coast in the next year or two. Dodo asks that anything that could be considered a personal keepsake for a survivor be reported to local officials or the consulate.
Jan Hafner, a scientific computer programmer, told The Associated Press earlier in the year that he estimated the debris field is spread out across an area that's roughly 2,000 miles long and 1,000 miles wide. Just how much has already sunk and what portion is still floating is unknown.
"It's a common misconception it's like one mat that you could walk on," he said.
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Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
