The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration confirmed that a large plastic bin found off the coast of Hawaii is part of debris expected to arrive from the tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, the Asahi Shimbun reports.
The 4-by-4-foot blue bin with the name ‘Y.K. Suisan Co. Ltd.’ had been used for transporting seafood and is the first item of debris to arrive in Hawaii and the 12th piece found in US and Canadian waters, NOAA spokesman Ben Sherman said. Several crabs and barnacles were found on the bin, along with three dead local seabirds. According to reports, the bin was spotted off the southeast coast of Oahu in Waimanalo by staff from Makai Ocean Engineering and was retrieved by the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory.
University of Hawaii researcher and ocean currents expert Nikolai Maximenko told AP that the bin’s arrival is consistent with his predictions for the trajectory of the tsunami debris. Mr. Maximenko projected that only 1 to 5% of one million to two million tons of debris remaining in the ocean could reach coastlines in the US and Canada.
