Join Professor Syamsidik, a tsunami mitigation expert from Indonesia, and Hiroshi Sato, a diving instructor who led recovery efforts in Japan, as they explore how tsunamis impact marine life. They discuss how tsunami waves are generated and the minimal effects on deep-sea creatures. Professor Emile Okal explains the mechanics of tsunami waves and their destructive potential as they reach shore. Additionally, Sato shares stories of clearing debris and restoring fisheries post-2011 disaster, highlighting the long-term ecological consequences of tsunami debris.
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insights INSIGHT
Deep Ocean Tsunamis Are Subtle But Energetic
Tsunamis move the entire water column, so deep-ocean waves are small on the surface but carry huge energy.
Fish in deep water may only bob centimetres and often escape harm, while seabed organisms can suffer massive disruption.
insights INSIGHT
Shallow Water Amplifies Tsunami Height
As tsunami waves enter shallower water they slow and compress, forcing the wave height to grow dramatically.
Centimetre-high swell at sea can become tens of metres high at the shoreline, concentrating the same energy.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Diver Witnessed Coral Damage After 2004
Professor Suchana Chavanich dove soon after the 2004 tsunami and found coral and household debris smashed onto reefs.
Large corals like brain and table types overturned and died while branching corals bent and often survived.
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Tsunamis destroy buildings, habitats and danger to everything in its path on land. But how do they affect life under the water? That's what CrowdScience listener Alvyn wants to know, and presenter Anand Jagatia is searching beneath the waves for answers. Anand meets Professor Syamsidik who is learning about how tsuanami waves are formed to help protect against future disasters. He runs the Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Center at Universitas Syiah Kuala, Indonesia. With him at this state-of-the-art lab is Dr David McGovern, expert in ocean and coastal modelling at London South Bank University. David tells Anand how the energy of a tsunami is spread across the entire water column. To explain the forces at play, Anand chats to Professor Emile Okal a seismologist from Northwestern University in the United States. Tsunami wave can move as fast as 800 kilometres an hour but, despite this, out at sea you might not notice it - but can the same be said for marine life? We follow the wave as it nears land and all that force is contracted and begins to show its might. Professor Suchana 'Apple' Chavanich from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand was one of the first people to swim off the Thai coast after the 2004 tsunami and remembers how coral reefs were battered.
In Japan, after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami as the water retracted it pulled with it tons and tons of debris into the water. The fishing communities of the Sanriku Coast lost almost everything, their equipment was destroyed and the water was heavily polluted. Anand meets Hiroshi Sato who set up the Sanriku Volunteer Divers, a team of people who dragged the debris out of the water. One of them was diver and journalist Bonnie Waycott who tells her story of witnesses the destruction first hand and trying to rescue the fishing industry with Hiroshi. Finally, we learnt that the effect of modern tsunamis carries far further than people might have imagined. On the west coast of the United States Professor Samuel Chan is an expert in invasive species at Oregon State University. He explains how modern infrastructure is contributing to some incredible migrations. Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Tom Bonnett Editor: Ben Motley
Photo: USA, California, Sonoma County, Bodega Bay, tsunami evacuation panel - stock photo Credit: Brigitte MERLE via Getty Images)
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