OR&R is building on decades of experience in Alaska to ensure the safety of Alaskan communities, ecosystems, and local economies while supporting a rising demand for maritime access and offshore development in the Arctic. Take a closer look at our diverse efforts in this part of the world.
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You may have heard of the "garbage patches" of debris afloat in the Pacific Ocean.
Here, we explore the oceanic and atmospheric forces that create them and attempt to answer: Where are they and why are they there?
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OCTOBER 6, 2012 -- On the heels of Hawaii's first confirmed report of Japan tsunami debris, NOAA and our partners are already examining the second confirmed item: a barnacled skiff which a fisherman found off the Hawaii coast—and which he wants to keep.
Learn more about the latest reports of marine debris connected to the 2011 Japan tsunami which has begun arriving in Hawaii.
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Where does old fishing gear go to retire? Thanks to an innovative partnership, it avoids a watery fate at the bottom of the sea.
Learn more about how it instead takes on a new life as energy!
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Ever since the first few items—an unmanned fishing boat, a childhood soccer ball—from the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami began turning up in North America, people have been asking what they should do if they find something themselves.
As it turns out, it depends on where you are and what you find.
Learn more about resources to help you deal with various types of marine debris.
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Sunken, stranded, and decrepit vessels—especially those with oil still on board—can become hazards to navigation while also posing as significant pollution threats to sensitive marine and coastal habitats. OR&R is working on this issue in a variety of ways.
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On a remote island near Vancouver Island, Canada, a small boat inscribed with Japanese characters washed up and has been connected to the 2011 Japan tsunami.
Nevertheless, this confirmation comes at a time when seasonal weather patterns are keeping the total amount of debris washing up off the Pacific Northwest coast relatively low.
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NOAA scientists recently removed nearly 50 metric tons of marine debris—mostly abandoned fishing nets and plastics—from the turquoise waters of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
This latest sweep of marine debris also scanned for items which might have been carried there from the 2011 Japan tsunami.
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Over the last several years, the infamous "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" has become quite a phenomenon.
But if we know where this large concentration of marine debris is located, why can't we clean it up? And how much would it cost?
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The challenges with all marine debris, including debris from the 2011 Japan tsunami, are that it is difficult to trace it back to its origin with certainty, it poses environmental and safety risks, and it can impact commerce and recreation.
Find out how the different types of marine debris are handled on the West Coast.
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Today, we live an era dominated by plastics—versatile, ubiquitous, "disposable" plastics.
In this "Age of Plastic," come explore the flip side of "conservation" from a materials scientist at the Smithsonian and learn about plastic's surprising conservation connection in the early days of synthetics.
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When you pull on your favorite fleece jacket, you probably never think about how it could be contributing to marine pollution.
However, recent research has uncovered how synthetic fabric products (such as fleece) could be a potential source of microscopic plastic fibers in the ocean and on beaches. Learn more.
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You may be surprised to learn that the tiny exfoliating "beads" found in many cleansers often are actually made of plastic.
These bits of polyethylene plastic are small enough to escape filtration and instead end up in the ocean, where they may become a hazard to marine life.
Learn about the research NOAA and our partners are doing to figure out what extent microplastics are a problem in our ocean.
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March 11 marked one year since Japan suffered one of the worst natural disasters and human tragedies in its history: the 9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
Here at NOAA, we're preparing for a different kind of aftermath from the disaster: the possibility that debris washed into the sea by the tsunami could arrive on North American shores over the next few years.
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To address marine debris impacts on the Gulf Coast, Congress tasked NOAA in July 2006 to survey and map nearshore waters impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to facilitate debris removal.
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The Japanese Consulate has confirmed to NOAA and our partners that the large floating dock that washed ashore in Washington's Olympic National Park in late December is in fact one of four docks from the fishing port of Misawa, Japan.
These docks were swept out to sea during the earthquake and tsunami off of Japan in March 2011.
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President Obama signed legislation reauthorizing the NOAA Marine Debris Program and its mission to address the harmful impacts of marine debris on the United States.
In doing so, this gave the program a new authority to deal with unusually large influxes of marine debris which may follow tsunamis or hurricanes.
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DECEMBER 4, 2012 -- On Nov. 30, the Government of Japan announced a gift of $5 million to the United States, through NOAA's Marine Debris Program, to support efforts in response to marine debris washing ashore in the U.S. from the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
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Reports abound about the size of the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," a marine mass of plastic frequently compared to the size of Texas.
But separating science from science fiction about the Pacific garbage patch is important when answering questions about what it is and how we should deal with the problem.
Explore the science behind the so-called "garbage patches" floating in the ocean.
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More than a year and thousands of miles later, a soccer ball washed away during the Japan tsunami has turned up on a remote Alaskan island and eventually could be headed back to the Japanese school grounds it originally came from.
Read more about this curious story and NOAA's involvement.
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Debris from the tsunami that devastated Japan in March could reach the United States as early as this winter, according to predictions by NOAA scientists.
However, they warn there is still a large amount of uncertainty over exactly what is still floating, where it's located, where it will go, and when it will arrive.
Responders now have a challenging, if not impossible situation on their hands: How do you deal with debris that could now impact U.S. shores, but is difficult to find?
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Since launching in 2008, Fishing for Energy, a successful private-public partnership coordinated by NOAA's Marine Debris Program, has reeled in approximately 1.1 million pounds of old fishing gear.
Fishermen have played a key role in directly retrieving a portion of this amount from the ocean.
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Guess what the number one most littered item is in America: cigarette butts.
In the past 25 years, beach cleanup volunteers have collected nearly 53 million of these plastic, toxic pieces of litter from beaches and waterways during the annual International Coastal Cleanup.
Learn more about this last form of "acceptable" litter in America and what you can do about it.
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Concerns persist that the diverse array of floating materials from the 2011 Japan tsunami could wash up on U.S. and Canadian shorelines.
A recently updated NOAA model sheds light on where this debris may have traveled and where the majority of it likely still remains at this time.
Read more about NOAA's efforts to collect data on this debris and prepare for possible impacts on our coasts.
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