Soccer ball lost during tsunami found in Alaska

By: Dianna Parker, Communications Specialist, NOAA Marine Debris Program

A soccer ball that recently washed up on a remote Alaskan shore may belong to a teenager impacted by last year’s devastating tsunami in Japan. It’s likely to be one of the first items to return home after traveling thousands of miles across the North Pacific Ocean.

The Office of Response and Restoration’s Doug Helton and the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Neal Parry have the story:

An observant beach comber on Middleton Island, in the Gulf of Alaska, found a soccer ball and volleyball with Japanese writing on them. A school name is stenciled on the soccer ball, and his wife was able to translate the writing to trace it to a school. We have confirmed that the school was in the tsunami zone, but because the school is set up on a hill, it wasn’t seriously impacted.

A Japanese broadcasting station aired a photo of the ball and was able to locate 16 year-old Misaki Murakami, who recognized the ball and the messages written on it. One reportedly says, “Good luck, Murakami!!” He says he lost it, along with the rest of his possessions.

Tsunamis, Natural Disasters, and Sunken Vessels

Doug Helton is our guest blogger again today. Doug is operations coordinator for NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration Emergency Response Division.

Stranded and damaged yachts, fishing vessels, and even large ships are a common sight after a coastal natural disaster. The recent tsunami that struck American Samoa was no exception. Although the commercial port in Pago Pago Harbor escaped the worst of the damage, the small boat harbor and inner harbor anchorage areas received some of the greatest wave heights. We spoke with some of the locals and heard pretty amazing stories about sailors who found themselves first stranded by the receding waters, having their dock lines snap, and then riding out the waves. One small fishing boat was carried several hundred yards and ended up in the middle of a destroyed building at the head of the harbor. Others ended up on roads or on docks.

Damaged boats picked up and tossed by
the tsunami at the small boat harbor.

Tsunami warning sign near our hotel.

Some of the damaged boats were already derelict before the tsunami. People abandon boats for all sorts of reasons, and they often collect in harbor areas. These boats can still have fuel oil and hazardous materials aboard, and when they sink can cause all sorts of environment problems.

This sunken fishing boat caught my attention because
I am from the Pacific Northwest. The more I thought
about it, I thought I had seen this boat before. I went
through my computer files and found another
picture I had taken of it in 2005!

The F/V Northwest in 2005, afloat at the same pier in Pago Pago.

I have been interested in the issue for a number of years, and the NOAA Marine Debris Program and the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program have helped to fund some of my research. More information at http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/about/abandoned_vessel.html

Derelict yacht at small boat harbor. This one has
definitely seen better days. Most yachts of this size are
built of fiberglass, but this one has a steel hull and
I think that helped it survive the tsunami.
Notice the tsunami damage to the pier.

Tires, Marine Debris, and Dengue Fever

Today’s guest blogger, Doug Helton, personally owns 12 tires, spread out over two cars and a bike. He appreciates the economy-sized salty snacks available at Cost-U-Less.

One of the most common marine debris items noted in the American Samoa surveys thus far has been used automotive tires. Over 60 tires have been recovered. At an average weight of 33 pounds each, that is about 2000 pounds. And there are a lot still out on the reef. Just how many is still being calculated.

So why are there so many tires, and what problems do these tires cause? There are a lot of reasons why tires are so common. First of all, we use a lot of tires in the U.S. According to greenlivingtips.com, about 300 million tires are scrapped or dumped each year. Dealing with all of those tires is a big problem, and even harder for island communities that lack the recycling infrastructure that exists on the mainland. Even on the mainland, a large percentage of tires end up in landfills, or dumped illegally.

Tires washed up on a beach in American Samoa.

Given that we are working to remove tires from the marine environment, it is hard to believe that until recently tires were often used to build artificial reefs. One reef in Broward County, Florida, had over a million tires. Storms and ocean currents subsequently caused the break-up of the tire “reef,” allowing the tires to move freely. NOAA worked with state and county agencies to determine disposal options, and these tire reefs are now being removed. (You can read more here.) The mobile tires in Florida began to smother and abrade the natural reefs. We have the same concern here from tires rolling around on the corals.

Tire reef in Broward County, Florida, broke up and threatened
coral reefs. (Photo courtesy Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection)

Here in Samoa, used tires are commonly used as planters, or painted and used to mark boundaries and parking areas along the roads. Many of these were picked up by the waves and swept out onto the reefs.

Tires used as planters in public park in Tafuna, American Samoa.

Even before the tsunami, abandoned tires were a problem in Samoa. Tires left in the open collect rainwater and become breeding grounds for mosquitoes. During March of this year, territorial agencies sponsored a free disposal program to encourage residents to take their discarded tires to the landfill to help reduce the spread of dengue fever and beautify the environment. Dengue is a viral disease carried by mosquitoes that breed in water-holding containers and old tires have become common breeding grounds for the mosquito species Aedes aegypti and Aedes polynesiensis – the major carriers of dengue in the territory.

Mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) carry dengue fever and
breed in water that collects in tires.

What’s Marine Debris Got to Do with a Tsunami Anyway?

I was on an interesting phone call with a bunch of people who work on corals today. They seemed to have a very different conception of the situation out here than we do. So I’m figuring maybe the casual reader of this blog may also be in the dark about what motivated this project, what we’ve seen, and what we’re thinking.

For the scientists reading along at home, feel free to correct my oversimplifications. I’m not a coral reef biologist, and I’m trying to understand and then translate what I’ve heard and seen.

If we could take human beings out of the picture, a tsunami would be an extreme event, but one that happens periodically and to which coral reef ecosystems have adapted. Corals get toppled or broken or downright creamed, but they generally recover naturally.

An overturned table coral.

Then there’s marine debris. On its own, that’s hard on corals too, because it can cause physical damage like shading, abrading, or breaking coral heads. It can also create a secondary effect—for example, scientists have seen that metal debris is associated with blooms of algae, bacteria, or other species that can shift the ecosystem.

Fabric draped across these corals blocks sunlight, which
is essential to the corals’ survival. It can also abrade the coral
as it moves with waves or tides.

Marine debris or a tsunami can be hard on corals even in an area distant from human habitation. However, when humans enter the picture they may do things that stress the corals to the extent that the damage done by a tsunami is just too much to recover from—things like creating land-based sources of pollution (runoff of sediment, say, that smothers the corals, or nutrients like nitrogen or phosphorus that promote excessive algae growth), overfishing, or knocking over corals with boat anchors or swim fins.

What can happen in an area like American Samoa is the trifecta of stress to the corals. You have that underlying stress level of land-based pollution, overfishing, and a growing population. Then you have the direct injury to corals by the tsunami. I’m not out in the water every day, but I’ve been in two areas with no debris to speak of, and there was plenty of coral damage that was apparently caused by the tsunami itself. On top of that, in areas adjacent to villages that were inundated by the tsunami, we’ve seen sparse to extreme amounts of debris out on the coral reefs. It’s a devastating combination.

This field of marine debris caused damage as it moved to its
current location, blocks sunlight now, and can expand the
footprint of damage as it continues to move around.

The marine debris can harm coral over three timescales: one during the tsunami as it moved with tremendous energy, breaking corals; one right now as it lies atop corals, shading them from sunlight and causing bleaching and death; and one more if it moves around due to the action of tides, waves, or storms and the cycle starts over again. This last threat is imminent since we’re heading into hurricane season.

Kyle was telling us this evening that he saw some fabric draped across a coral head and just knew it had killed the corals it was covering, so he took a photo before and after they removed the cloth. (I’ll post those photos in a day or two.) If the fabric is good and stuck, the only way that coral can recover is for the fabric to gradually rot away or be removed. If the debris in question is a piece of corrugated metal roofing, the rotting away will be gradual indeed. It’s the feeling of the scientific team that the best restoration is to remove the marine debris generated by the tsunami so recovery can start and to prevent additional damage.

I can’t say for sure that we’ll be able to do that removal, but the more that can be removed and the quicker it can happen, the better. Not for the sake of removing marine debris, but for the sake of allowing the coral reef to recover.

Swimming a piece of corrugated
metal roofing to the surface.

First Day of Operations, and a Relaxing Snorkel

Today was Sunday (well, it was when I started typing). It was the first day of operations for the dive teams—two boats went out with five people on each. I didn’t hear all the details and will ask one of them to blog in the future. However, when we met with the boats around 5pm at the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources pier, the snorkel team was just pulling in. They had been able to survey more than their planned area and picked up an impressive amount of debris to boot.

Considering there were no plans to recover debris,
the first day’s haul was a good start.

We unloaded the corrugated metal roofing, tires, fabric, and household goods like pots, pans, and kettles.

Max and I unload iron roofing material, while
Kyle unloads the day’s debris from the 10-meter Ambar.

The pile of debris collected on day 1 of operations,
except for the barrels.

Crushed kettles and pots lie alongside a candy-cane
Christmas decoration swept away by the tsunami.

While the boats were out surveying marine debris, Doug, Ruth, and I enjoyed a day of leisure at the airport “pool” located at the end of the runway.

You can watch the planes take off from the
comfort of the water. Yes, that black speck is a small plane.

I believe this was an area dredged out when they built the runway, but it’s well populated with coral reef denizens.

A charming solitary blue fish.

If a solitary blue fish is not your style, there are plenty
of others to choose from.

While a day off snorkeling may seem unrelated to marine debris, it recharged our batteries and reminded us of how important coral reefs are to the territory of American Samoa. By providing food, protection from storm waves, and tourist attractants, coral reefs are important to the economy and culture of the territory. It’s times like these when I love my job; by surveying the marine debris generated by the tsunami, we hope to get the word out on just what it will take to help the territory recover more quickly.

In stark contrast to the beauty under the water was the walk out to the site. Along the narrow stretch between Pala Lagoon and the fence around the runway, debris has washed up on the beach and blown into the brush and against the fence. Lots and lots of debris. It seems clear that it isn’t just dumped along the path—it’s too evenly distributed along the more than half-hour walk, and it’s not the type of stuff you’d take on a walk out to a fishing or swimming spot. We saw plenty of bottles, chip packets, and saimin bowls, but also remnants of molded plastic chairs, toys, shoes, deodorant bottles, shoes, toothbrushes, shoes, and a medical syringe. I can’t upload a video here, but you almost have to watch it to understand the sheer uniformity of marine debris cover along this path.

Land-based debris apparently washed in
from Pala Lagoon collects along the runway fence.

Batteries (and a few irresistible lighters) were

all the debris Ruth, Doug, and I collected on our day off.

Marine Debris Community Cleanup in Leone

On Friday, four of us participated in a volunteer shoreline cleanup in the village of Leone. Leone was one of the hardest hit villages in American Samoa, with loss of life and destruction of property. It’s located toward the southwest end of the island. The cleanups are done in a few different villages and organized by the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources. Village residents, DMWR personnel, and other volunteers participate. We gathered in the shade (it’s hot even at 8:30am!) to wait for everyone to gather.

Part of the group receives a briefing on our cleanup mission.

We could see the remnants of the tsunami’s destruction even though much of the debris had been cleared away: concrete slabs with no house left, twisted roofs on structures still standing, crushed vehicles.

The height and force of the tsunami can be imagined
from the folding and ripping of corrugated iron roofing.
FEMA-provided tents can be seen on the left.

Our group of about 20 started working our way from one point at the edge of the village back toward the center. Some of the land-side debris was from the tsunami, and poignant in its reminder of the disrupted lives. Some was not clearly from the tsunami—it may have been garbage dumped over the slope, but it was still destined to get in the water.

A valentine and a child’s shoe are among the shoreline debris collected.

The origin and date of some shoreline debris
on the slope above the water could not be determined.

Over the course of about three hours, including breaks, I estimate we collected about 30 mega-garbage bags of debris, plus large items that couldn’t fit in bags. The DMWR folks were so good at loading up and hauling away that I didn’t get a good count. However, it seemed that we made a pretty good dent in the land debris.

DMWR pickup truck filled with bags of debris
and topped with metal and fabric.

For the last hour, a few of us got in the water thinking we’d snorkel around and get an idea of how much debris was on the reef flat, maybe pick up a bit of debris and put it in a basket atop a boogie board. However, we had barely gotten our heads in the water before we started seeing debris, especially yards and yards of fabric draped across coral heads.

Fabric draped over coral heads in Leone Bay.

We worked nonstop pulling out corrugated metal roofing, fabric and clothing, and the odd pot or pan. We didn’t do a comprehensive survey (or any survey at all, really), but we felt we’d barely scratched the surface. Still, there’s something intensely satisfying about helping out with a marine debris cleanup.

Steering an over-full basket atop a tippy boogie
board. The load was mostly a Christmas decoration.

After the cleanup we met at Lions Park to enjoy food donated by several of the village residents who had lost the most.

We enjoyed spaghetti, pisupu (corned beef), tuna salad,
and KFC at the relaxing and picturesque Lions Park.

Oh, and by the way, while we were helping with the cleanup, the remaining eight members of the team arrived, about 12 hours late. Their flight had turned around partway here and returned to Honolulu. We were sure glad to see them.

An Intro to Our American Samoa Marine Debris Mission

There’s nothing quite like getting on or in the water to stir the writing juices. I’m back in the field, this time in American Samoa as part of a team of NOAA folks. As you saw from the last post, we’re here by request of the American Samoa governor and agencies to conduct an assessment of marine debris generated by the September 29 tsunami and to do emergency coral restoration, as appropriate. This has been a whirlwind of planning, with only about a week’s advance notice before our departure.

A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck near American Samoa, generating a destructive tsunami. While the first attention was to human life and recovery on land, thoughts in some parts of NOAA rushed to the coral reefs that are so important to the economy and culture of American Samoa.

8.0 tsunami: Map courtesy of Google, TerraMetrics

Do you know where American Samoa is? Did you know it’s part of the United States? If the answers are no, don’t feel bad; I had no knowledge of American Samoa before I moved to Hawaii. The territory’s Historic Preservation Office has information on the cultural and political history of American Samoa. It’s south of the equator, closer to New Zealand than to Hawaii. American Samoa is made up of five volcanic islands and two atolls; most of the population lives on Tutuila, which is the only island we’ll be able to survey on this trip.

Map of the Pacific Ocean. Photo by National Park Service

Tsunamis are a very episodic but natural occurrence, and corals can recover from the damage by waves, sediment, and plant debris caused by the tsunami. However, the debris load can be much greater in areas where humans build their homes and live their lives in the inundation zone. The very goods that make our lives more comfortable–things like corrugated metal roofs, metal or plastic garbage bins, bulky mattresses–also can wreak havoc when they’re deposited on coral reefs.

We’re by no means stepping into a vacuum of response. Volunteer cleanups organized by American Samoa’s Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources have targeted shorelines and reef flats in a few villages, and agency divers have gotten in the water to look at what the damage was in terms of debris and coral damage. NOAA’s mission is to take a systematic survey of marine debris in the coral reef habitats near villages that were particularly affected by the tsunami. This will be a first step in determining what the next steps should be and what is needed to take them.

While corals broken by tsunami wave energy can recovery naturally, that recovery can be more difficult in areas that are already stressed by human influences. So if the divers find coral heads that were broken off and overturned by the tsunami and if those corals are still alive, the divers will turn them back upright. This emergency restoration may not be sufficient, but it can keep the corals alive, with access to sunlight, until more permanent reattachment can be done.

The advance team of seven NOAA personnel arrived Sunday night, November 29. We’ve been meeting with territorial agency folks to determine the areas we should focus our efforts on, with village mayors and the news outlets to get the word out to the communities we’ll be working near, and with other federal agencies working on tsunami recovery. We’ve also been figuring out the logistics for launching and fueling boats, refilling SCUBA tanks, and staging equipment. The rest of the team arrives on tonight’s flight, after a five-hour flight from Honolulu.

NOAA Corps officer LT Ben LaCour and I briefed a meeting
of village mayors and media representatives on Tuesday.

Yesterday, we were able to do a reconnaissance run along the southwestern coast of Tutuila. Kyle, our field operations lead, swam around two bays to get an idea of how best to deploy his boat teams, looking at water depths and debris densities. We all got in the water in Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a bay with no village along its shorelines.

Kyle Koyanagi gears up to do a reconnaissance
swim around the bay in front of the village of Leone.

Tomorrow we’ll join in one of the volunteer cleanups, in the village of Amanave, close to the western tip of the island of Tutuila.

Tsunami-generated Marine Debris Assessment in American Samoa

A team of NOAA staff will undertake a preliminary assessment of tsunami-generated marine debris and emergency coral restoration for American Samoa.  A strategic and systematic survey and assessment of the level and impact of marine debris is necessary, both to demonstrate the extent of support needed for recovery efforts and to help prioritize potential future removal operations. The team draws on the expertise of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center’s Coral Reef Ecosystem Division, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, and Office of Response and Restoration’s Emergency Response Division and Marine Debris Program. The effort is funded by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program and NOAA Marine Debris Program. An advance team arrived November 29th and dive teams arrive December 3rd.  Operations are slated for December 5th through 17th.

Photo: On December 1, 2009, the NOAA Marine Debris Team met with the Office of Samoan Affairs to brief Village Chiefs and Pulenu’u (Mayors) on planned activities.  The meeting ended with a press conference and interview with the Samoan Government Television Station. Here, Kris speaks with media at the press conference.