The tsunami fish is the last surviving specimen of five

striped beakfish The striped beakfish (''Oplegnathus fasciatus'') is a marine ray-finned fish, a knifejaw from the family Oplegnathidae. It is native to the northwestern Pacific Ocean, though a smattering of records exist from other localities in the eastern Pac ...

that lived for more than two years in the partially submerged

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

of the Japanese boat ''Saishoumaru'' (斎勝丸), after the boat broke loose and went adrift during the March 11, 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. On March 22, 2013, the boat washed onshore in North America at Long Beach, Washington, more than from its starting point. The fish, as of December of 2013, resides at the

Seaside Aquarium __NOTOC__ The Seaside Aquarium is a privately owned aquarium in Seaside, Oregon, United States. It is one of the oldest aquariums on the West Coast. History The building where the aquarium is located was built initially as a natatorium in the 1 ...

in Seaside, Oregon.

Tsunami and voyage

The Tōhoku earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011, and was the most powerful reliably measured earthquake in Japanese history. The resulting

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

swept the ''Saishoumaru'' out to sea and inundated its storage compartments with seawater containing marine life, including several beakfish fry. During the ensuing two-year drift across the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, the fish matured into juveniles. Scientists speculate that the fish were deposited into the

ghost ship A ghost ship, also known as a phantom ship, is a vessel with no living crew aboard; it may be a fictional ghostly vessel, such as the ''Flying Dutchman'', or a physical derelict found adrift with its crew missing or dead, like the ''Mary Celest ...

by sea waves either off the coast of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Discovery

The boat was discovered beached on the Washington coast on March 22, 2013, its internal hold now forming an "aquarium" for the five beakfish as well as more than 30 plant and invertebrate species. Four were

euthanized Animal euthanasia ( euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditi ...

shortly after their discovery by the

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is a department of the government of the state of Washington, United States of America. The WDFW manages over a million acres of land, the bulk of which is generally open to the public, and mor ...

, due to the concerns that the warm-water fish could become an

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

. The fifth was brought to the city hall in a bucket, after which the Seaside Aquarium agreed to add the fish to their collection. As of late 2013, the fish is on display at the aquarium.

References

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External links

Boat found with live fish inside confirmed to be Japan tsunami debris
Washington State Department of Ecology 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami 2013 in Washington (state) Individual fish Seaside, Oregon Individual animals in the United States