Japan tsunami debris hitting Canadian shores!

West Coast beaches in danger.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada - December 21, 2011 - Japanese lumber and household goods have begun appearing on the British Columbia coast in what many locals think is the vanguard of a wave of debris from last March’s Japanese tsunami that will eventually clog West Coast beaches with cars, boats and even waterlogged houses.

“I found more debris in 10 minutes than I have in four years… and it’s all Japanese in origin,” said Perry Schmunk, Mayor of Tofino, a community of 1,600 on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

In addition to Japanese drink bottles; Schmunk said he has found toothbrushes and a child’s sock.

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster killed upwards of 20,000 people and swept away an estimated 200,000 buildings.

This fall, researchers at the University of Hawaii claimed that 20 million ton of debris were washed to sea by the tsunami, and that according to their models, it would not hit North America until 2013.

In late September, a Russian ship reported sailing through a field of tsunami debris near the Midway Islands - about 5,000 kilometers west of the B.C. coast. Crewmembers described seeing furniture, appliances, and a 20-foot fishing boat from Fukushima, the area hardest hit by the tsunami.