Federal and state biologists are trekking back to a remote beach in Olympic National Park where a large dock washed ashore. The concrete and steel dock appears to have drifted across the Pacific Ocean after last year's tsunami in Japan.
Washington Marine Debris Task Force spokeswoman Virginia Painter says the primary goal of Thursday's expedition is to scrape potential invasive species off the hulk.
"All the agencies agreed that the invasive species removal has to be the first priority, so that is what this is about."
Painter says scientists made an initial assessment last month of the Asian sea life attached to this dock. They were relieved they didn't find some of the "aggressive" invasive species which hitchhiked across the ocean on a similar floating dock last summer. That one washed ashore near Newport, Oregon.
On the Web:
Marine debris in Washington state (Washington state Department of Ecology)
