Ian Miller, with Washington Sea Grant, will give a program Tuesday on efforts to track tsunami debris that might come ashore in Washington.
Miller, Washington Sea Grant’s new coastal hazards specialist on the Olympic Peninsula, will give his presentation as part of the Perspective Series at Olympic National Park.
The devastating March 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami have focused international attention on the debris that travels across our oceans. Miller will provide the latest information on the efforts to track tsunami-generated marine debris.
Late in December, a section of dock washed ashore on a remote beach between LaPush and the mouth of the Hoh River. The dock has not been officially confirmed as tsunami debris. Crews who inspected the dock looked for, but did not find, an identifying plaque like the one found on the Misawa dock – identical to the one near LaPush – that washed ashore on Agate Beach, Ore.
The free program will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Olympic National Park Visitor Center, 3002 Mount Angeles Road, Port Angeles. For information on upcoming programs, go to friendsonp.org.
NEW SAN JUAN DOCK
Boaters who visit San Juan Island National Historical Park’s English Camp unit this summer will be able to use the park’s new dinghy dock on Garrison Bay. The 115-foot long pier, with a 40-foot perpendicular float at the end, was completed in December by A1 Marine Services of Friday Harbor, subcontracting for R.H.D. Enterprises of Tacoma, the pier and float fabricator.
The project also included new safety railings for the steep stone stairway leading from the pier to the park’s Bell Point Trail.
English Camp is one of two units in the park that marks the peaceful resolution of the final chapter in the Northwest Boundary dispute between the United States and Great Britain. Military forces from both nations occupied the island for more than 12 years without incident. English Camp was held by the British Royal Marines, with the American Camp held by the U.S. Army.
In the spirit of the joint occupation, the first dock was installed for park visitors arriving by vessel with money donated by the International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians of Victoria, B.C. The dock was dedicated in 1986 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the park.
Daily use of the dock was limited over the years because the float would bottom out at low tide. This not only damaged the structure and underwater cultural resources but also impacted eel grass, an increasingly threatened species in the bay. That was the primary reason for extending the pier 115 feet into the bay,
The eight piles that support the pier were driven 20 feet below the bay floor, six of them into bed rock that required extensive drilling when the project began Dec. 3.
