Neither tsunami debris nor marine debris is going away any time
soon. Following an August 2012 NGO tsunami meeting and
increasing reports of tsunami debris on the U.S. West Coast and
Hawaii, concern and interest about tsunami debris in Japan
continues to increase. Responding to this interest, the
Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan has
funded a series of beach site investigations in the United
States to convey the present situation of both tsunami and
marine debris to Japan officials and the Japanese people. The
first stop for these surveys: Hawaii. I teamed up with members
from Japan Environmental Action Network (JEAN), the Oceanic
Wildlife Society and the Japan Ministry of Environment tobegin
surveys on O’ahu beaches where confirmed and suspected tsunami
debris has recently been found . During our first inspection at
Hanauma Bay, we examined a rusted Japanese refrigerator that
washed ashore on December 20th, 2012, several days before a
second fridge was found on Waimanalo Beach. Clean