Tsunami Debris?

On our morning beach-combing walks, we have been on the lookout for tsunami debris after a dock washed up a few miles down the Oregon Coast.

Sunday morning the beach was littered with possible specimens which we bagged up for further inspection.  They included:

• Potato chip wrappers
• Children's shoes (two fairly new pairs)
• Styrofoam ice cream cup
• Red Solo plastic cups
• Firework packaging
• Half gallon bottle of pirate-labeled, cheap rum (the pirates left a few swigs)

None of these seemed especially Japanese, so we disposed of them (for the record, we did not drink the rum).  Our closest debris candidate was an empty bottle of Ninkasi Brewing Radiant Ale which we thought fit the parameters of being both Japanese and radioactive.  Turns out it is a "carmel malt balanced with elegant hop bitterness perfect for a glorious summer day" brewed in Eugene, Oregon.  Disappointing.

Then my brother-in-law spotted this piece of bamboo washed ashore.  It is about 18 inches long, broken on one end, hollow and looked as though it had been out to sea for a while as it was sun bleached and the grains were raised.  Now, you don't typically see bamboo washed ashore here, so we are claiming it as our first piece of official tsunami debris until further notice.