Wildlife

Marine Invaders

The devastating 2011 tsunami in Japan dragged several thousand tons of debris out to sea. Empty ships, splintered docks, wooden beams from homes, TV sets, refrigerators, buoys, buckets and plastic bottles crossed the Pacific Ocean in the months and years following the disaster.

The wreckage was a ghostly sight as it washed up on beaches from Hawaii to Alaska. But a new study claims the tsunami debris was actually teeming with life.

Scientists counted nearly 300 species from Japan that hitched rides across the ocean aboard debris.