N. Oregon Coast Talk Looks at Invasive Species Coming Via Tsunami Debris

Published 09/05/2013

(Netarts, Oregon) – What sort of invasive species traveling on tsunami debris are still a possibility here on the Oregon coast? A special lecture will happen next on the north Oregon coast in Netarts – near Oceanside and Tillamook – addressing these scenarios. As more pieces from the 2011 Japanese tsunami continue to arrive on these beaches, the threats of these unwanted passengers remain.

The CoastWatch program is sponsoring a slide talk on invasives and tsunami debris in Netarts on Tuesday, September 10, at 7 p.m. in the Netarts-Oceanside Fire Hall Meeting Room (on the 5th St. loop). The goal is to aid CoastWatch volunteer in keeping watch for this environmental threat, but the event is free and open to all.

Dr. Ralph Breitenstein

The speaker will be Dr. Ralph Breitenstein, a CoastWatcher and retired medical doctor who has been working as a highly skilled volunteer in the marine bioinvasions lab at the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) in Newport the past five years. He has been working with scientists there on research projects concerning invasive species, and compiled an inventory of marine algae and invertebrate species in Yaquina Bay. He has been assisting HMSC researchers John Chapman and Jessica Miller in their project to identify invasive species carried by debris from the tsunami.

Dr. Breitenstein will provide an overview of the 2011 tsunami and the general pattern of currents in the north Pacific. He will discuss the floating docks which washed up in Oregon and Washington, as well as the Japanese boats that have been found on our shore. He will describe the invasive species that have already been found, and provide clues for those scouting for debris as to how to recognize suspected invaders, and what to do about them.

This presentation is part of CoastWatch’s special focus on the Netarts area this summer and fall, supported in part by grants from the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership and the Meyer Memorial Trust. CoastWatch is a program of the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition.

For more information, contact Fawn Custer, CoastWatch’s volunteer coordinator, at (541) 270-0027.

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