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Invasive Species Ride Tsunami Debris To US Shore

Posted by samzenpus on from the are-going-my-way? dept.

An anonymous reader writes "When a floating dock the size of a boxcar washed up on a sandy beach in Oregon, beachcombers got excited because it was the largest piece of debris from last year's tsunami in Japan to show up on the West Coast. But scientists worried it represented a whole new way for invasive species of seaweed, crabs and other marine organisms to break the earth's natural barriers and further muck up the West Coast's marine environments. And more invasive species could be hitching rides on tsunami debris expected to arrive in the weeks and months to come."

4 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Attention, "Fittest": by ArhcAngel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is the first thing I thought of. Isn't this how nature prunes and purges and refreshes itself?

    --
    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
  2. A very invasive species by CdrGlork · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'd hate to see those Japanese tentacle monsters I hear so much about surf their way to the US—I'm not in to that sort of thing.

    1. Re:A very invasive species by spauldo · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's OK. They're into you.

      --
      Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach either, do tech support.
  3. Re:Maybe patent officers think it's new by rufty_tufty · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think the point is that the invasive species are hitchiking a ride on "a floating dock the size of a boxcar". This is new man-made intervention.

    --
    "The weirdest thing about a mind, is that every answer that you find, is the basis of a brand new cliche" -