Courtenay resident Tarah Millen had not been in Japan for very long when she found herself in the midst of a massive tsunami.
Millen, a volunteer with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS), was in Otsuchi on the northeastern coast of Japan, documenting the annual slaughter of more than 20,000 Dalls porpoises off Japan's northeast coast, when the tsunami hit late last week following an 9.0-magnitude earthquake.
In her Memoirs of a Cove Guardian blog, Millen describes the destruction she and the other volunteers witnessed as the tsunami ripped through the coastal town.
Back home, Millen's partner, Ryan Hughes, immediately started looking up information when he heard about the tsunami.
"When we got word the tsunami hit Japan, my first instinct was coastal," he said. "Right away, it clicked because I knew they were on the coast."
Hughes soon received an e-mail from a Sea Shepherd volunteer in France with live streaming that had been posted from one of Millen's fellow volunteers right before the tsunami hit.
The footage showed the volunteers driving in a car to higher ground and depicted the sounds of tsunami sirens, explained Hughes.
"That was the only stuff we could see from here that gave us any clue that they were aware something was happening and were trying to get higher," said Hughes. "You get a pile of information that gives you hope that they got up there, but there's still lots of elements that could happen. You've got fires, and they could only go so far because the road collapsed."
Hughes didn't learn anything more for more than 24 hours. He received a phone call from Millen just before midnight Friday saying they were OK.
"It's just absolutely wild how powerful this stuff is," said Hughes. "It's really truly unfortunate the people in Japan can't just fly back like Tarah and the crew."
Having been in Japan in November, Hughes believes the Japanese are very courageous people.
"They're a very strong, very team-oriented culture," he said. "They're very tight-knight and really work together. That's one thing that's really going to push them through this. They really need all the help we can get."
The cove guardians — five volunteers from Sea Shepherd and one from Save Japan Dolphins — were at the inner harbour in Otsuchi when they felt an earthquake, Millen explained in a post on her blog Sunday.
"Realizing the need to head to higher ground, we immediately jumped in the vehicles and raced through Otsuchi to a nearby mountain road," she wrote. "Workers ran from their workplace in processing plants and factories. Children were riding their bicycles quickly down the streets. Everyone in Otsuchi sensed the need for urgency, as we did."
In a few minutes, they arrived on higher ground and were joined on the hill by a fire truck and a few other vehicles. "Only minutes later, we witnessed the entire city of Otsuchi covered by water," wrote Millen. "The water receded and surged again and again into the night. Boats immediately drove from the harbour, knowing that the only safe refuge was at sea. Many still did not make it.
"As the water receded into the ocean, leaving the rock below exposed, we anxiously waited, knowing that it had to come back into shore. It was not long before the water came rushing in, an enormous black crashing wave, dragging along with it houses, vehicles, bodies and debris of all kinds. We watched in horror as the entire town of Otsuchi was destroyed by the water. What was not taken by water was taken by flame."
The group eventually escaped, and along the way, the Westerners were met by a lot of kindness and generosity by the local residents, Millen revealed in her blog.
With the help of local residents, the cove guardians made it to their hotel farther inland in Tono.
On Saturday, two taxis took them to Japan's west coast, which wasn't affected as much, explained Hughes.
From there, they got a flight to Korea and then to Seattle. Hughes was going to pick Millen up in Vancouver on Monday night.
writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com