( CNN ) -- Most outrageous fish tales begin with an arching arm gesture and `` a fish this big '' -- but this one starts with `` fish that traveled this far . '' Just over two years after the Japan earthquake and tsunami , researchers made a startling discovery in a 20-foot-long Japanese fishing vessel that washed ashore last month near Long Beach , Washington : five tropical fish , alive and well . They are called striped beakfish , and they are native to warmer waters near Japan , China and the Korean Peninsula . The five stowaways , roughly the size of your palm , lived in a cozy spot at the back of the boat . A 20- to 30-gallon containment hold in the boat 's stern lost its cover , and that part of the boat was submerged as the vessel drifted in the ocean , said Allen Pleus , a scientist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife . That `` created like a cave they could go in and out of , '' Pleus said . Japanese tsunami debris makes its way into Hawaiian birds . Pleus said most debris out in the ocean attracts fish , so it 's not surprising these fish found a home in the debris . But it is surprising they survived the nearly 5,000-mile journey . `` It 's very rare that you 'd see something like this , '' Pleus said . `` Obviously , fish are very robust and we are learning this on all of the species that come across . '' When researchers first explored the boat , they saw just one of the fish in the holding tank . They collected it in a bucket and took it to Long Beach City Hall . Someone at City Hall called the Seaside Aquarium in Seaside , Oregon , to come and get it . Fish and Wildlife personnel found three more in the tank 's murky water . Finally the boat was towed to a state yard , where the fifth fish came swimming up to Pleus . The one that went to the aquarium will live out its life there . General Manager Keith Chandler says it 'll go on display Saturday . `` He is a pretty cool fish , and I just wonder if there are more out there , '' he said . The other four had the honor of contributing to research at Oregon State University , where researchers will dissect them learn their ages and what they 've been eating . Sea anemones , scallops , crabs , worms and sea cucumbers that hitched a ride on the same boat also will be studied . Massive dock washes ashore on national park beach .
Five Japanese beakfish survive 5,000-mile journey to U.S . Containment Facility in fishing boat 's stern provided habitat . Four to be on display at aquarium ; other two to be dissected .