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| Lego galore! The modern treasure that washes up on our beaches | Lego galore! The modern treasure that washes up on our beaches |
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| 'There is, one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea," as Herman Melville put it in Moby-Dick, but even he cannot have fathomed what the ocean depths would spew forth on to our 21st-century beaches. Such as pieces of Lego. And not just any Lego, but, of all things, nautically themed Lego, including scuba tanks, flippers, pirates' cutlasses, even lifejackets. The sea's mysteriousness is eclipsed only by its magnificent sense of irony. | 'There is, one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea," as Herman Melville put it in Moby-Dick, but even he cannot have fathomed what the ocean depths would spew forth on to our 21st-century beaches. Such as pieces of Lego. And not just any Lego, but, of all things, nautically themed Lego, including scuba tanks, flippers, pirates' cutlasses, even lifejackets. The sea's mysteriousness is eclipsed only by its magnificent sense of irony. |
| There is little mystery about this particular case: in 1997, off the coast of Cornwall, the container ship Tokio Express was hit by a giant wave, described by its captain as a "once in a 100-year phenomenon", and spilled nearly 5m Lego accessories. Beachcombers are still finding them. There is even a Facebook page dedicated to them. | There is little mystery about this particular case: in 1997, off the coast of Cornwall, the container ship Tokio Express was hit by a giant wave, described by its captain as a "once in a 100-year phenomenon", and spilled nearly 5m Lego accessories. Beachcombers are still finding them. There is even a Facebook page dedicated to them. |
| Further confirmation of the ocean's sense of humour came in 1992 when it brought down the Ever Laurel in the Pacific, carrying more than 28,000 Friendly Floatee plastic bath toys, including frogs, turtles and ducks. Their journey around the world has inspired children's stories and taught oceanographers about global currents. | |
| Usually, though, the sea teaches us more about human frailty. The famous case of the SS Politician, which foundered in the Outer Hebrides in 1941 with a cargo of malt whisky, inspired the novel Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie, on which the Ealing classic of the same name was based (with an epilogue tacked on for American audiences making it clear how unhappy this made the islanders, which wasn't actually true). | Usually, though, the sea teaches us more about human frailty. The famous case of the SS Politician, which foundered in the Outer Hebrides in 1941 with a cargo of malt whisky, inspired the novel Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie, on which the Ealing classic of the same name was based (with an epilogue tacked on for American audiences making it clear how unhappy this made the islanders, which wasn't actually true). |
| In the modern era, container ships are no less vulnerable, turning the seas into a gigantic lucky dip. There was the Ice Prince, whose huge, lost cargo of timber turned Worthing beach into a surreal art installation in 2008, and the MSC Napoli, which beached off Lyme Bay in Dorset, bringing local scavengers car parts, perfumes, nappies and even motorbikes (real ones, not Lego), which were swiftly spirited away. | In the modern era, container ships are no less vulnerable, turning the seas into a gigantic lucky dip. There was the Ice Prince, whose huge, lost cargo of timber turned Worthing beach into a surreal art installation in 2008, and the MSC Napoli, which beached off Lyme Bay in Dorset, bringing local scavengers car parts, perfumes, nappies and even motorbikes (real ones, not Lego), which were swiftly spirited away. |
| Then again, spills have also washed up bananas, tortilla chips, and, on Kodiak Island, Alaska, sports-themed fly-swatters. | Then again, spills have also washed up bananas, tortilla chips, and, on Kodiak Island, Alaska, sports-themed fly-swatters. |
| Contrary to popular belief, it is not a case of "finders keepers" with beach finds, according to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. You might be entitled to a reward, but "those who don't declare items are breaking the law and could find themselves facing hefty fines and paying the owner twice the value of the item recovered". | Contrary to popular belief, it is not a case of "finders keepers" with beach finds, according to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. You might be entitled to a reward, but "those who don't declare items are breaking the law and could find themselves facing hefty fines and paying the owner twice the value of the item recovered". |
| Which suggests that Cornwall's Lego collectors could have fallen for a massive marketing ploy, and will one day be presented with a gigantic bill for all the accessories they have hoarded. The theory is bolstered by what must be the strangest flotsam find of recent times: an 8ft Lego man, who was found on a Dutch beach in 2007. A year later, another one appeared on Brighton beach, followed by sightings in the US. Lego denied all knowledge. Fingers pointed instead to a Dutch artist known only as "Ego Leonard". Somewhat inevitably, his identity is a mystery. | Which suggests that Cornwall's Lego collectors could have fallen for a massive marketing ploy, and will one day be presented with a gigantic bill for all the accessories they have hoarded. The theory is bolstered by what must be the strangest flotsam find of recent times: an 8ft Lego man, who was found on a Dutch beach in 2007. A year later, another one appeared on Brighton beach, followed by sightings in the US. Lego denied all knowledge. Fingers pointed instead to a Dutch artist known only as "Ego Leonard". Somewhat inevitably, his identity is a mystery. |