Volunteers scrape creatures from tsunami dock

Associated Press
By JEFF BARNARD June 7, 2012 8:34 PM
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    In this Thursday, June 7, 2012 photo proivded by the Oregon Park and Recreations Department, unidentified workers shovel debris from the top of a dock float torn loose from a Japanese fishing port by the 2011 tsunami that washed up Tuesday on Agate Beach near Newport, Ore. Workers with shovels, rakes and other tools first scraped the structure clean, then briefly used low-pressure torches to sterilize the dock. (AP Photo/Oregon Parks and Recreation Department)
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    The boxcar-sized dock that was torn loose by the tsunami in Japan and washed up on an Oregon beach has been scraped clean of seaweed, shellfish and other organisms and sterilized with torches to prevent the spread of invasive species.

    Chris Havel of the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation says a dozen volunteers on Thursday removed a ton and a half of material from the dock, and buried it above the high water line.

    Scientists who examined the marine life clinging to the dock said there was a chance some could establish a foothold in Oregon if they weren't disposed of properly. One in particular was a kind of edible seaweed known as wakame (wah-KAH-may).

    The dock washed up Tuesday at Agate Beach near Newport, Ore.

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