Page 9: of Marine Technology Magazine (November 2013)

A slew of news reports have been published this past month alleging that a ?Texas sized?  eld of debris is making its way to the shores of California. The debris  eld, caused by the 2011 Japanese tsunami, is on some accounts, said to be toxic but other reports suggest otherwise. At the time of the tsunami, the debris  eld contained 5 million tons of debris from Japan. But now, who knows how much has sank, how much has broken up, or - perhaps - how much has been consumed?Most reports are claiming that there?s at least 1.5 million tons but this num- ber is as controversial as any other. This week, a post on NOAA?s Ma- rine Debris blog states the following: ?Here?s the bottom line: There is no solid mass of debris from Japan head-ing to the United States.? In 2012, marine debris from the Japanese tsunami was a topic of in- tense scrutinization. Reports of a dock that had washed ashore in Oregon that containing 165 foreign species that had traveled from Oregon made national news. And while the tsunami debris high-lighted to many that plastic waste in our oceans is a big issue, it convoluted that same issue as well. What needs to be emphasized is not sensationalized reports of where the trash is or how big it might be. We need to emphasize the efforts we?re making to rectify the situation before it worsens. On the West Coast alone, the cost of cleaning up marine debris comes to more than $13 per person per year, according to a recent EPA study. Since plastic doesn?t biodegrade, marine debris will only continue to become a problem.Posted by Tyson Bottenus on SeaDiscovery.com NOAA?There is no solid mass of debris from Japan heading to the United States?Marine Technology Reporter 9www.seadiscovery.com MTR #9 (1-17).indd 9MTR #9 (1-17).indd 912/12/2013 4:29:11 PM12/12/2013 4:29:11 PM