Update on derelict tsunami debris boat found off Oregon’s coast, April 13

A 25-30′ section of a fiberglass boat spotted off Oregon’s coast April 9 has been safely towed to Newport in Lincoln County. Dave Debeloy Enterprises of Newport hooked up to the object, suspected to be debris from the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011, late in the evening April 9 and returned to the harbor in the middle of the night. The fragment is moored at a marina in Newport Bay. Biologists with the Oregon Coast Aquarium and Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center inspected the debris while it was still at sea and, after consulting with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, determined it posed a low threat of carrying invasive species. Several live yellowtail jack fish, native to the west Pacific, will be removed later today and delivered into the care of the Oregon Coast Aquarium. The debris will be dewatered, inspected further by OSU researchers, then dismantled and disposed of in a local landfill.