Sea critters hitchhiked across the Pacific on tsunami debris

[Judi Lynn]

Seth Borenstein, Ap Science Writer
 Updated 8:27 pm, Thursday, September 28, 2017



WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 300 species of fish, mussels and other sea critters hitchhiked across the Pacific Ocean on debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami, washing ashore alive in the United States, researchers reported Thursday.

It is the largest and longest marine migration ever documented, outside experts and the researchers said. The scientists and colleagues combed the beaches of Washington, Oregon, California, British Columbia, Alaska and Hawaii and tracked the species to their Japanese origins. Their arrival could be a problem if the critters take root, pushing out native species, the study authors said in Thursday's journal Science.
 
"It's a bit of what we call ecological roulette," said lead author James Carlton, a marine sciences professor at Williams College, in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
 
It will be years before scientists know if the 289 Japanese species thrive in their new home and crowd out natives. The researchers roughly estimated that a million creatures traveled 4,800 miles (7,725 kilometers) across the Pacific Ocean to reach the West Coast, including hundreds of thousands of mussels.

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/science/article/Sea-critters-hitchhiked-across-the-Pacific-on-12238218.php

[BigmanPigman]

1. Very interesting, I wish I could travel in time and fast forward 50 and 100 years.

Now I just got a craving for mussels and fries though, mmmmmmm.

[uppityperson]

2. Moule frits. Yum