Boat found in Washington might be tsunami debris

A small boat is washed on the beach at Ocean Shores, Wash. Monday. State authorities are checking the small boat to determine if it may have crossed the Pacific from the March 2011 tsunami off Japan.

OCEAN SHORES, Wash. — Washington authorities are working with the Japanese consulate to determine whether a small boat found on a beach in the town of Ocean Shores might have crossed the Pacific from the March 2011 tsunami.

Ecology Department spokeswoman Linda Kent said today  there’s a nameplate on the boat, but it’s barely legible.

The boat was found Monday covered with barnacles and seaweed. It was taken to a state parks maintenance facility and tested for invasive species.

Kent says another boat found April 23 near Long Beach, also covered with marine life, had no marks that could determine its origin.

She says there has been no confirmed tsunami debris since last year.