Tsunami Ghost Ship Lands in Washington

Looking like something from the deep, this gooseneck barnacle encrusted boat has journeyed from the tsunami battered shores of Japan to the coast of Washington state.  Floating more than 4,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean the boat is believed to have been set adrift during the March 2011 earthquake which left 15,000 dead.

The boat washed up on Monday morning in Ocean Shores, around 90 miles south of Seattle and turned over to the US Coast Guard for inspection. Completely covered in unusual tentacle-like marine life, the boat, which has an Asian-language inscribed on it, was examined by the Department of Ecology. They were worried that there may be invasive species of marine life attached to the boat according to Grays Harbor County Emergency Management Deputy Director Charles Wallace.

KCPQ reports that officials will contact the Japanese Consulate in Seattle for help in deciphering the language on the boat and identifying it. Ecology Department spokeswoman Linda Kent says it's obvious the boat was floating a long time, but there's no indication yet where it came from.

Another boat was found last Wednesday near Long Beach, also covered with marine life. It also was taken to a state Parks facility and no sign of its origin was found.  Kent says there has been no confirmed tsunami debris since last year.

The Mead family of Ocean Shores said they were among the first to find it out in front of their place Monday afternoon.  'Pulled up on it, took a good look at it and took some pictures.  We found it very interesting," said Linda Mead. "It's definitely from the tsunami.'

The massive tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan in 2011 washed about five million tonnes of debris out to sea.  About 70 per cent of it eventually sank off the Japanese coast, while the remaining 1.5 million tonnes was dispersed by waves and ocean currents.