Boat Washed Away by Tsunami Drifted for Almost 10 Years

It ended up back in Japan, covered in coral
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 14, 2020 12:20 PM CST
Boat Washed Away by Tsunami Returns Almost 10 Years Later
A huge amount of coral had grown inside the boat.   (YouTube)

A fishing boat washed away in a tsunami has turned up 400 miles away almost a decade later. The small boat was pulled ashore after fishermen spotted it floating near Yaene port in Hachijo Island, south of Tokyo, NHK reports. A registration number confirmed that it belonged to a fishermen's collective in Miyagi prefecture, the area hit hardest by the March 2011 tsunami. In the years afterward, the boat apparently drifted many thousands of miles, the Mainichi reports. A large amount of coral was found inside the boat—along with a fish usually found in tropical waters. A local expert on ocean currents believe the boat drifted to an area near the US West Coast before currents brought it to Southeast Asian waters and then back to Japan. (More Japan stories.)

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