Wave of wreckage

Wreckage from the tsunami that ravaged parts of Japan almost 10 months ago has begun washing up on the shores of America’s West Coast.

The majority of the debris field—which some experts argue is roughly the size of California—will be deposited on the shores of the Pacific Northwest, according to the Canadian Press. While Japanese buoys, lumber, water bottles, tooth brushes and Styrofoam floats have been washing up on beaches in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia for several weeks, such objects seem mundane compared to what also figures to make up the wave of wreckage.

“The first problem is hazardous materials, then we have toxic chemicals and also human body parts, sad to say,” said physicist Michio Kaku. “Realize that over 3,700 Japanese are still unaccounted for and are expected to have been washed into the Pacific Ocean.”