Free Republic

A floating island of debris the size of Texas has been crossing the vast Pacific Ocean to the western shores of the Americas since a devastating tsunami inundated Japan in 2011, says a new study. Five million tons of wreckage - the remains of homes, boats, and other remnants of shattered lives in eastern Japan - were swallowed by the ocean that day in March, and more than one million tons of flotsam continues to head towards the west coast of the US..... While the first documented debris from the tragedy has already been found in California, scientists fear these...

The U.S. Coast Guard unleashed cannon fire Thursday at a Japanese vessel set adrift by last year's tsunami, stopping the ship's long, lonely voyage across the Pacific Ocean. A Coast Guard cutter fired on the abandoned 164-foot Ryou-Un Maru in the waters of the Gulf of Alaska and more than 150 miles from land, spokesman Paul Webb said. Soon after the cannon fire started, the ship burst into flames, began to take on water and list, Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow said. About two hours later, the vessel hadn't sunk and the cutter resumed shelling, Lt. Veronica Colbath said. The...