Thread by @KUOW

In October, the #ZimKingston spilled 109 shipping containers near the WA/BC border. Debris has floated north ever since, onto beaches on Vancouver Island, then Haida Gwaii, then SE Alaska, and most recently the Kenai Peninsula (top of the Gulf of AK).
A debris thread… 1/n

Much of it is worthless, waterlogged garbage: kids’ bike helmets, soft-sided suitcase sets, urinal mats... (pics of barnacle-encrusted helmets afloat near Craig, Alaska, by Kathy Peavey). 2/n

But Alaskan beachcombers have been thrilled to find @YETICoolers in working condition. The high-end coolers retail for hundreds of dollars. 3/n

These @YETICoolers were all found on beaches near Seward, Alaska: ~1,000 miles from where the #ZimKingston spilled containers off WA’s Olympic Peninsula. Pics courtesy Duke Marolf. 4/n

Marolf has been flying the coast and offshore islands of Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula in his small plane with fat tires this summer, looking for beached treasure. He says he needs just 200 feet of beach to take off and land. 5/n

Kathy Peavey and a waterlogged suitcase set she found beachcombing on Alaska’s Dall Island (just north of the Dixon Entrance / border with Canada). 6/n

Hannah Richter uses two beach-found coolers as a platform for cutting salmon in Craig, Alaska. Courtesy @spencerrichter. 7/n

Steven Peavey finds a Yeti cooler on Alaska’s Suemez Island in April, kicking off a “fun frenzy” of cooler hunting in SE AK.
Melissa Nagamine Peavey pic. 8/n

A Yeti cooler found on a remote beach near Elfin Cove (across from @GlacierBayNPS), Chichagof Island, Alaska, in July. Courtesy Chris and Serena Lillehoff 9/n

As @KUOW’s @heyjohnryan reported last year, the #ZimKingston’s captain chose to ride out a big storm off the outer WA coast instead of seeking the more sheltered waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca as other ships did.

Disaster ensued. kuow.org/stories/cargo-… 10/n

Large amounts of never-used garbage (distinct from the usual fishing gear) have washed up on British Columbia beaches. And now Alaska too. 11/n kuow.org/stories/cargo-…

We’ll have more on this far-flung debris from a spill off the Washington coast on @KUOW’s Morning Edition and tomorrow at KUOW.org. Pics courtesy Trina Nation. 12/end