US officials worry about creatures on tsunami dock

Associated Press

When the tsunami hit the northern coast of Japan last year, the waves ripped four dock floats the size of freight-train boxcars from their pilings in the fishing port of Misawa and turned them over to the whims of wind and currents.

One floated up on a nearby island. Two have not been seen again. But one made an incredible journey across 5,000 miles of ocean that ended this week on a popular Oregon beach.

Along for the ride were hundreds of millions of individual organisms, including a tiny species of crab, a species of algae and a little starfish all native to Japan that have scientists concerned if they get a chance to spread out on the West Coast. A dozen volunteers scraped the dock clean of marine organisms and sterilized it with torches Thursday to prevent the spread of invasive species.