Japanese Tsunami debris found on Santa Rosa Island

Last weekend on Santa Rosa Island we found a very strange piece of debris on Sandy Point when we were surveying. This large stake type thing had Chines or Japanese symbols on the top, and it was so interesting to me that I decided to take it home and find out what these symbols mean. I didn’t find out exactly what it means, but a family friend who studies Japanese told me that some of the symbols mean “Japanese national” or something of that nature. After googling “Japanese land marker” and “Japanese land marker marine debris” I found that these things have been showing up all over the West Coast, and last time someone found one was in Oregon in 2014. I don’t think that there has been any Japanese tsunami debris found on the Channel Islands yet so this was very interesting to me.

Here is some information on Japanese property markers I found:

Japanese Researchers Visit Oregon for Marine Debris Project

http://www.aquablog.ca/2015/02/haida-gwaii-awash-with-marine-debris/