Animal Dispersal by Raft
Two things that get anti-creationists on the prod is when biblical creationists know more about aspects of fish-to-photographer evolution than its proponents. Added to that is when observable evidence supports creationary models far better than it supports evolutionary conjectures. In this instance, we have been ridiculed for suggesting an aspect of biogeograpy: that one way animals were dispersed is by using rafts. Evolutionists are often stymied by similar creatures living in widely separated areas, and often have to invoke the miracle of "convergent evolution" instead of presenting real science.
Don't go to disunderstanding me, I'm not saying they rented rafts like the ones used to shoot the rapids on the Colorado River or something. After all, most critters cannot carry charge cards. What I'm talking about is using whatever is available (and I suspicion it's often by accident) and going with the flow. Ever see sea lions making themselves at home on boulders, docks — and rafts? Animals can be opportunists.
Creationists have said that one way animals dispersed after the global Genesis Flood is by using makeshift rafts. Small pieces of debris are not likely to get very far, but large amounts, including trees, were available after the Flood. In addition, the world was still settling down, and there was a great deal of residual tectonic activity. A dramatic example of rafting animals was observed after the March 2011earthquake and tsunami in Japan. It is not much of a stretch to extrapolate from the "small" tsunami and simpler creatures to the far more intense global catastrophic Flood.
 |
| Credit: Freeimages / Martyn E. Jones |
Creationists have said that one way animals dispersed after the global Genesis Flood is by using makeshift rafts. Small pieces of debris are not likely to get very far, but large amounts, including trees, were available after the Flood. In addition, the world was still settling down, and there was a great deal of residual tectonic activity. A dramatic example of rafting animals was observed after the March 2011earthquake and tsunami in Japan. It is not much of a stretch to extrapolate from the "small" tsunami and simpler creatures to the far more intense global catastrophic Flood.
Following the earthquake, a 125-foot tall tsunami decimated the Japanese coastline, killing 18,000 people, melting down three nuclear reactors, and washing 5 million tons of debris out to sea, including fishing boats, docks, buoys, and various pieces of wood and plastic. This debris was caught by ocean currents and slowly transported 4,000 miles to coastlines on the other side of the world, including Hawaii and the Pacific coast of North America.To read the rest, click on "Hundreds of Species Voyage Across the Pacific After Japanese Tsunami".
. . .
This tsunami debris didn’t come alone. Thousands of tiny voyagers survived the long passage at sea by riding on plastics. Marine biologists, working with local and state officials as well as citizen scientists, catalogued and bagged 600 pieces of tsunami debris and, with them, at least 289 living species (biologists suspect there are likely more that escaped their notice).