DISASTERS

Fish that hitched cross-Pacific ride in suspected tsunami debris boat are quarantined

Associated Press
Published | Updated

A bow, believed by scientists to be tsunami debris, was discovered Thursday, April 14, 2015, about 3 miles off the Oregon Coast near the area of Ona Beach. The wreckage of a fishing boat that appears to be debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami was carrying some unexpected passengers, fish from Japanese waters, when it was spotted off the Oregon coast. Scientists say 21 yellowtail jacks and one Asian striped knifejaw hitched a cross-Pacific ride in the bow of the boat found last week. Fish washed up in debris can bring parasites and diseases to native species, but biologists say the latest fish from Japan pose little threat. Still, they have been quarantined at the Oregon Coast Aquarium and will be available for public viewing. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP) MAGS OUT; TV OUT; NO LOCAL INTERNET; THE MERCURY OUT; WILLAMETTE WEEK OUT; PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP OUT (The Associated Press)

Twenty yellowtail jack fish and one Asian striped are seen at the Oregon Coast Aquarium on April 14, 2015 in Newport, Ore. The wreckage of a fishing boat that appears to be debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami was carrying some unexpected passengers, fish from Japanese waters, when it was spotted off the Oregon coast. Scientists say 21 yellowtail jacks and one Asian striped knifejaw hitched a cross-Pacific ride in the bow of the boat found last week. Fish washed up in debris can bring parasites and diseases to native species, but biologists say the latest fish from Japan pose little threat. Still, they have been quarantined at the Oregon Coast Aquarium and will be available for public viewing. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP) MAGS OUT; TV OUT; NO LOCAL INTERNET; THE MERCURY OUT; WILLAMETTE WEEK OUT; PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP OUT (The Associated Press)

An Asian striped knifejaw is seen at the Oregon Coast Aquarium on April 14, 2015 in Newport, Ore. The wreckage of a fishing boat that appears to be debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami was carrying some unexpected passengers, fish from Japanese waters, when it was spotted off the Oregon coast. Scientists say 21 yellowtail jacks and one Asian striped knifejaw hitched a cross-Pacific ride in the bow of the boat found last week. Fish washed up in debris can bring parasites and diseases to native species, but biologists say the latest fish from Japan pose little threat. Still, they have been quarantined at the Oregon Coast Aquarium and will be available for public viewing. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP) MAGS OUT; TV OUT; NO LOCAL INTERNET; THE MERCURY OUT; WILLAMETTE WEEK OUT; PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP OUT (The Associated Press)

The wreckage of a fishing boat that appears to be debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami was carrying some unexpected passengers — fish from Japanese waters — when it was spotted off the Oregon coast.

Scientists say 21 yellowtail jacks and one Asian striped knifejaw hitched a cross-Pacific ride in the bow of the boat.

Fish washed up in debris can bring parasites and diseases to native species, but biologists say the fish from Japan pose little threat.

The fish are quarantined at the Oregon Coast Aquarium and will be available for public viewing.

Last month, a striped knifejaw turned up in a fisherman's crab trap off the Oregon Coast. And in 2013, biologists found five striped knifejaws alive in a water-filled bait box on a 20-foot-long Japanese boat washed up in southwest Washington.