US /

Washed Up in Washington: Japanese Home?

Kayakers find lumber, household supplies
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 20, 2012 10:01 AM CDT
Washed Up in Washington: Japanese Home?
The kayakers found timber and household implements on a Makah Indian reservation.   (AP Photo/Jessica Mintz)

Kayakers are scouring the coast of Washington state for more debris from Japan's tsunami—and their latest find, on a Makah Indian reservation 120 miles from Seattle, was rather haunting. A collection of nailed-together lumber produced by an Osaka factory, along with a bottle of kerosene with Japanese writing and a container of cough syrup, led three searchers to conclude they may have found the remains of a house, the AP reports.

"It was sobering, especially when you're smelling somebody else's cough syrup. Somebody lived here and it doesn't look like a house anymore. I was not prepared to find something like that," said one. An oceanographer says it's too soon to confirm that it was once indeed a home. "It's like an archaeological dig," he said. "It's a bunch of things that could be construed as a house." Experts are worried about the potential consequences Japanese debris could have on the Pacific Northwest's ecosystem following the arrival of a 66-foot dock and a 20-foot boat. (More Japan stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X