The Great East Japan Tsunami of 2011 sent millions of tons of debris from terrestrial and coastal environments into the ocean. Less than a year later, Japanese Tsunami Marine Debris (JTMD) started arriving on the west coast of North America and Hawai’i. In 2018-19, over 7 years after the tsunami, we investigated living coastal organisms on plastic rafts originating from JTMD material in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (also known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch). Dr. Choong will present highlights of the JTMD studies and his participation as a hydrozoan taxonomist and invertebrate zoology curator at the Royal BC Museum.

On the Monday preceding the event, Nature Vancouver members will receive the Zoom link in the weekly e-News.  The talk will begin at 7:30 pm.  Non-members are welcome and should Email enews@NatureVancouver.ca a few days ahead to register for the link.