Alaska Hit By 'Unprecedented' Tsunami Debris

Buoys by the hundreds are just part of the "unprecedented" waves of debris washing up on Alaska's shores. Montague Island, located some 120 miles southeast of Anchorage, has lately seen a steady stream of buoys, styrofoam, and other items that have made their way across the Pacific, likely in the wake of Japan's March 2011 tsunami, the Telegraph reports.

Debris from Pacific tsunamis has been showing up in Alaska for years, so while experts concede that it's tough to pinpoint last year's event as the source, the sheer volume is a pretty sure indicator. "We have never seen the amount we see now," says a rep from the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies. "In the past we would find a few dozen large black buoys, used in Japanese aquaculture, on an outside beach cleanup. Now we see hundreds." A 12-day cleanup will begin tomorrow. (More Japanese tsunami stories.)