http://marinedebrisblog.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/where-are-we-now-tsunami-debris-three-years-later/

Where Are We Now? Tsunami Debris Three Years Later

March 11, 2014 by NOAA Marine Debris Program

By: Nancy Wallace, Marine Debris Program Director

Last month, six high school students from California visited
Rikuzentakata, a city in Japan’s Iwate Prefecture that was nearly
destroyed three years ago today by a massive earthquake and tsunami. On
the agenda was a visit to Takata High School and its 20-foot boat, now
home again after several years and a long voyage across the Pacific Ocean.

The boat, which Takata High School used for marine science lessons,
washed away during the tsunami and landed in Crescent City, California
in April 2013. The Del Norte High School students, with the help of
their teachers, restored the boat and worked alongside Del Norte County
and various groups to return it to Japan.

This tremendous story – a bright spot in an on-going human tragedy – is
about friendship, cooperation, and bonds across an enormous ocean. For
us in the NOAA Marine Debris Program, it’s also a reflection of the
partnerships that have formed between responders here in the U.S. and
our remarkable counterparts in Japan, as we enter the third year of
addressing debris items that wash ashore.