Researchers learn about invasive species in tsunami debris

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UCLUELET (NEWS1130) – The concern isn’t only the debris floating toward our coast – but what may be attached to it.

Researchers are closely watching invasive species that are making their way to BC after the 2011 tsunami in Japan.

Barnacles, mussels, and crabs have been stuck in garbage and wreckage that’s washed across an ocean.

Laura Griffith-Cocrane with the Ucluelet Aquarium on Vancouver Island says some are more of a concern than others, but there’s no panic.

“We’re just trying to figure out what’s coming over and how much of each thing is coming over. A lot of the things that are arriving on the coast aren’t used to our kind of temperature range and most of them that arrive over here die, we’ve seen very few that actually survive once they’ve been here for two weeks.”

She adds clearing debris from beaches will stop any spread.

“The concern is that if something starts to settle in that out-competes a species that is native to the area. We could have really nasty repercussions to the eco-system if they don’t have predators or if they bring disease with them.”

This is giving researchers a rare look at how natural disasters can redistribute different species of sea life.

 

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