Tsunami 'Ghost Ship' Spotted Off Coast

Canadian air patrol has spotted an empty Japanese squid-fishing boat drifting across the Pacific and heading for land. Beat-up and likely worthless, the 150-foot ship is part of 20 million tons of tsunami debris floating toward US and Canadian shores—so Canadian authorities may just leave it alone, the Vancouver Sun reports. The good news: The ship's owner, contacted in Japan, says no one was on board when the boat was swept away last year, reports CNN.

For now Canadian officials are warning other ships it's out there and giving the boat a closer look for possible marine pollution. “The ghost ship is probably going to be pretty much worthless—nobody’s going to want to have anything to do with it because of the huge costs that are going to be incurred [towing it to shore],” says a towing expert. “All that garbage, it’s going to hit Alaska, it’s going to hit BC and it’s going to hit Washington." (More tsunami stories.)