Japanese Fish Found in Tsunami Debris on Display at Oregon Aquarium

The devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011 washed around 5 million tons of debris into the Pacific Ocean. A portion of the tsunami debris that was shed into the oceans is reaching the U.S. and other Canadian shores.

Yet more debris of a small boat washed up on a beach in Oregon. But what is strikingly interesting about this is that it carried live small striped beak fish native to Japan along with it.

Mostly found in the warmer waters near Japan, China and the Korean Peninsula, the striped beak fish were onboard the small boat and completed an 8,000 km journey to the west coast of North America. Officials predict that the fish survived by feeding on other organisms in the boat. Apart from this, the boat also carried sea anemones, scallops, crabs, sea cucumbers and some worms, reports CNN.

"A 20 to 30-gallon containment hold in the boat's stern lost its cover, and that part of the boat was submerged as the vessel drifted in the ocean. The fish could have come from Japanese waters or hitched a ride as the boat drifted by the Hawaii coast," Allen Pleus, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife scientist, was quoted as saying in Sciencerecoder.

In order to reduce the risk of having invasive species in Washington State, officials euthanized four out of the five fishes. The left out adventurous fish was transferred to the Oregon Aquarium Seaside, Oregon, where it was kept on display Saturday.

Keith Chandler from the Oregon Aquarium was quoted in The Telegraph stating that visitors were dazed on seeing the striped fish, which managed to survive such a long journey from Japan to the U.S.