Tsunami Debris: What to Expect

As debris from the Japanese tsunami—including a ghost ship and a soccer ball—begins to reach the shores of the US and Canada, officials want the public to know what to expect. Huge amounts of debris are expected to wash up, but with the debris field having dispersed over thousands of miles, items are expected to arrive intermittently over the next couple of years, CNN reports. Building materials, fishing nets, and barrels of potentially hazardous materials are expected, but officials say bodies are not expected, and radioactive material is unlikely.

"We expect there to be an upswing in debris on the shore," say an official with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "The interesting thing is, we don't know where it's going to be, and we think it is going to be spread out." On its advice page, the agency says volunteers cleaning up marine debris should follow common sense and put safety first, and be especially careful around containers of chemicals, which should be reported to authorities instead of handled. Personal items that could be identified should be reported to the NOAA, which will work with Japanese authorities to return them to their owners. (More NOAA stories.)