Japanese Tsunami Debris Could Make Its Way To Central Coast - Central Coast News KION/KCBA

SANTA CRUZ – First Alaska, then Washington. And now Oregon. Debris from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami is making its way across the Pacific.

"There are really large items that could be washing ashore aside from boats," said Colleen Bednarz of Save Our Shores, a non-profit organization in Santa Cruz that aims at caring for the marine environment. "There literally could be a dock washing ashore so you can image an item that big could pose risks to safety."

Bednarz is worried California's next.

"We are definitely going to be keeping a close eye on the debris that is washing into shore," she said.

Save Our Shores does hundreds of beach and river clean-ups each year and removes more than 20,000 pounds of pollution.

Adding debris from Japan would only make their job even tougher.

"We will remain keeping up with our 200 to 250 cleanups a year so our data will be able to track different trends in the debris washing on shore, so what we will be able to compare to what we have now," Bednarz said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it has response plans in line to deal with any more debris reaching different states.

It also has been collecting data from different shores.

NOAA says debris could make its way to California in the next several years.