Photos: Tracking the Damage in Japan and Our Oceans After the
Tsunami Stiv Wilson joined an expedition organized by the 5
Gyres Institute and Algalita Marine Research Foundation to sail
from Tokyo to Oahu to observe and study the debris field from
the tsunami which struck Japan last spring. In a new piece on
AlterNet Wilson writes of his journey: "Near Sendai, in the
northern prefectures next to where the Fukushima meltdown
occurred, the land was quiet, nearly deserted as the government
had just opened the area ... The landscape was decimated,
haunting. Here there were untold amounts of destroyed rice
fields, thousands of empty house foundations, lost neighborhoods
.. . Streets abruptly ended at cliffs above new streams and
tributaries. Scattered everywhere were all manner of human
effects: children’s stuffed animals, toys, kitchen supplies,
picture-less frames. Along the side of the road were piles and
piles of debris that had been sorted by type. Things like
mattresses were piled 50 feet high and a quarter