International Effort to Underway to Hunt for Tsunami Debris
Hawaii residents were warned after the March 11 tsunami devastated parts of Japan that debris may land on island shores.
The University of Hawaii reports that aerial photographs and satellite images showed “massive islands of lumber and other debris floating in the sea.”
But just a month later, these piles have mysteriously vanished. Now whether the debris will land in Hawaii, Canada and the mainland United States as an animation model developed by the International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa revealed on April 5, is in doubt.
The developers of the animation, Senior Researcher Dr. Nikolai Maximenko and Scientific Computer Programmer Dr. Jan Hafner, are being asked to track the debris, but they’ve been unable to get help from federal agencies.
But the pair has good news to report – help is here – just not in the way they expected.
A Russian three-master sailing ship, the STS Pallada, which has been docked at the Aloha Market Place pier in Honolulu since September 11, with 102 cadets aboard, is willing to help solve the mystery.
The crew is on a three month training trip, and their journey has taken them from their homeport in Vladivostok to Kodiak, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Honolulu. On the way home, the ship may pass through the debris and near Tokyo.
Fortunately, Maximenko, a native of Russia, can easily describe to Captain Vasily Sviridenko and Natalia V. Borodina, where the debris might be.
The captain said he worries about the debris because it can be very dangerous of his ship and they will be on the look out 24 hours a day. He speculates the reason the huge commercial vessels traveling the North Pacific have not reported anything “is because they cut through such stuff like through butter.”
Maximenko has asked the descriptions, photos and samples, of debris floating in the ocean, and any measure of radio activity.
The Pallada will be home in Vladivostok in mid-October.
University researchers are wondering if Russian researchers can help Hawaii researchers find out what happened to the Japanese tsunami debris.
The model that is updated every day with current winds and sea level can be viewed at: https://iprc.soest.hawaii.edu/users/hafner/PUBLIC/TSUNAMI_DEBRIS/tsunami_tracers_no_vector_large.html.
Oh là là -Hawaii Governor in Paris
Par-lay voo frahn-say?
Gov. Neil Abercrombie and his wife, Dr. Nancie Caraway are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary in Paris.
Oh là là – Abercrombie’s departure from the state means Lt. Governor Brian Schatz will be Acting Governor from this evening until Monday, September 26, 2011.
Okole Maluna: Kona Contestant in Finals for Best Rumologist
Brice Ginardi has beat out hundreds of competitors and is now in the top 10 for the Tommy Bahama search for the world’s first Rumologist.
Brice’s YouTube submission seen here has helped him get into the final round.
Fans can vote for Ginardi on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tommybahama – there is a $50,000 Grand Prize.
“We are thrilled with the Top 10, and it has been exciting to watch the social media interaction take place in real time,” notes Rob Goldberg, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Restaurants for Tommy Bahama. “There is no doubt in my mind that one of these 10 finalists will make a great first-ever Tommy Bahama Rumologist.”
Contestants will participate in the next round by creating a new video. The Top 5 will be selected and then the company will announce the winner on October 6th.