@LegoLostAtSea

Great Lego Spill of 1997. Current Archaeology Rescue Project of the Year. Award-winning, bestselling book, Adrift. Beachcomber, fossicker, dragon hunter. MD ANT

Joined July 2014
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From magic wands to witches' hats and black bats, our new book about the great Lego spill of 1997 will reveal what else plummeted into the ocean on that fateful day. #oceanplastic
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Fragments of people's lives, washed up on the beach.
Miscellaneous beach finds laid out on a black background. Among the colourful finds featured are false nails, finger prickers, toy soldiers, toy animals, fake flowers and foliage, a plastic nose, Lego, a soy sauce fish and a covid test kit.

ALT Miscellaneous beach finds laid out on a black background. Among the colourful finds featured are false nails, finger prickers, toy soldiers, toy animals, fake flowers and foliage, a plastic nose, Lego, a soy sauce fish and a covid test kit.

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RIP, Beryl e-scooter. We wondered how long it would be till we found one at the foot of a cliff. Not sure how long it's been there but we reported it to @BerylBikes
e-scooter lying among pebbles at base of cliff

ALT e-scooter lying among pebbles at base of cliff

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Sad to hear that Holywell Cave, known too as St Cuthbert’s Cave, has apparently been ‘sealed forever’ after a massive cliff fall.
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bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c305…

Poldark beach cave in Cornwall cordoned off after cliff collapse

Holywell cave in Newquay has been cordoned off after a cliff fall overnight on Saturday and Sunday.

bbc.co.uk
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Beach finds.
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Torn and tattered books strewn all along the grass verge on our way to the beach this morning. What's the story...
Remains of a book lying on grass verge

ALT Remains of a book lying on grass verge

Remains of a book lying on grass verge

ALT Remains of a book lying on grass verge

Remains of a book lying on grass verge

ALT Remains of a book lying on grass verge

Remains of a book lying on grass verge

ALT Remains of a book lying on grass verge

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Lost and found. #PawPatrol #beachfind
Plastic toy dog on a rock - sand, sea and sky in the background.

ALT Plastic toy dog on a rock - sand, sea and sky in the background.

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Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries: "It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones. There are some things in life that we need to always have in plenty, even if we will only use a small portion. If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice! Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it - they simply apply the consumer mentality to books- that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity."
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Dramatic skies this morning after months of drought. Wonderful to see.
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A message from the sea...
Scrap of soggy, torn, faded paper lying among brown seaweed bearing the message "You are awesome! Thank you for making a difference"

ALT Scrap of soggy, torn, faded paper lying among brown seaweed bearing the message "You are awesome! Thank you for making a difference"

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Having just emptied the contents of my beach bag I realise that the soggy scrap of 'paper' described in the ALT text is in fact plastic 🙄
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Sea grapes or cuttlefish eggs washed up today. We returned them to the water.
Cluster of cuttlefish eggs resembling black grapes lying on a rock encrusted with barnacles, green seaweed in the background

ALT Cluster of cuttlefish eggs resembling black grapes lying on a rock encrusted with barnacles, green seaweed in the background

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Another magnificent barrel jellyfish washed up this morning. Gentle giants of the sea. #Rhizostomapulmo
Large barrel jellyfish, blue in colour, washed up on the shore. Ebbing tide beyond, distant surfer on the horizon.

ALT Large barrel jellyfish, blue in colour, washed up on the shore. Ebbing tide beyond, distant surfer on the horizon.

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Another Lego life raft lost overboard from the Tokio Express back in 1997 has been discovered, this time by Belgian fisherman Chris Meyers of fishing vessel Z-91 Franson who hauled it up in his nets southwest of the Isles of Scilly. Picture credit: Chris Meyers
Picture shows Belgian fisherman Chris Meyers holding a yellow Lego life raft

ALT Picture shows Belgian fisherman Chris Meyers holding a yellow Lego life raft

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There were 28,700 Lego life rafts in the shipping container lost overboard from the Tokio Express back in February 1997. Most are thought to be still lying on the sea floor.
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This plastic toy building brick was found in the stomach of a Sable Shearwater chick on Lord Howe, a remote island located off the east coast of Australia. It was discovered by scientists at @AdriftLab, a research group focused on seabirds and marine plastics. The brick isn’t Lego – in fact we’re not sure what brand it is – but it was among 246 pieces of plastic the ~90-day-old chick had consumed. “The chick had failed to fledge (i.e., was not able to depart the island) and was very emaciated,” said Dr Jennifer Lavers, who has been studying shearwaters on Lord Howe Island with her colleague Dr Alex Bond, Principal Curator in Charge of Birds at Britain’s Natural History Museum, for the last two decades. “The plastics in its stomach accounted for 5% of the chick's overall body mass.” Research by scientists at @AdriftLab has revealed that Sable Shearwaters are among the most plastic-contaminated species in the world. Having so much plastic in their stomachs can be a death sentence for the shearwaters, as it leaves no room for food. “The adult shearwaters fish plastic out of the ocean and unknowingly feed it to their chicks,” explained Dr Lavers. For those not familiar with Lord Howe Island, it’s a small island in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. The island is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is home to about 44,000 Sable Shearwaters, which nest in burrows. The third picture here shows a healthy Sable Shearwater chick, not the one that had consumed 246 pieces of plastic. Picture copyright: Dr Jennifer Lavers at @AdriftLab
Picture shows 246 pieces of plastic that had been ingested by a Sable Shearwater chick

ALT Picture shows 246 pieces of plastic that had been ingested by a Sable Shearwater chick

Picture shows a plastic toy building brick being held in a hand against a cream fabric background

ALT Picture shows a plastic toy building brick being held in a hand against a cream fabric background

Picture shows a healthy Sable Shearwater chick, not the one that had consumed the 246 pieces of plastic

ALT Picture shows a healthy Sable Shearwater chick, not the one that had consumed the 246 pieces of plastic

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Noticed some orange feet sticking out of a clump of seaweed...
Tangle of seaweed with orange feet sticking out of it.

ALT Tangle of seaweed with orange feet sticking out of it.

Black plastic duck with orange feet perched on a rock, sand and sea in the background.

ALT Black plastic duck with orange feet perched on a rock, sand and sea in the background.

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So many jellyfish washing ashore. Magnificent barrel jellies (know too as dustbin lid jellyfish because of their size), compass jellies, blue jellies and moon jellyfish. #Cornwall
Stranded barrel jellyfish, bright blue in colour. Tennis ball for scale.

ALT Stranded barrel jellyfish, bright blue in colour. Tennis ball for scale.

Stranded compass jellyfish. The V shaped markings resemble the face of a compass, hence its name.

ALT Stranded compass jellyfish. The V shaped markings resemble the face of a compass, hence its name.

Stranded blue jellyfish

ALT Stranded blue jellyfish

Stranded moon jellyfish with its four pink horseshoe-shaped gonads.

ALT Stranded moon jellyfish with its four pink horseshoe-shaped gonads.

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The World Shipping Council has released its annual Containers Lost at Sea Report, showing that an estimated 1,478 containers were lost at sea in 2025. The 2025 figure is an increase from the 576 containers lost in 2024. One major vessel loss accounted for 640 containers. As an aside, there were nearly five million pieces of Lego inside a container lost overboard from the Tokio Express in 1997.
Variety of Lego pieces including dragons, sharks, cutlasses and an octopus laid out on a patterned sepia background

ALT Variety of Lego pieces including dragons, sharks, cutlasses and an octopus laid out on a patterned sepia background

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worldshipping.org/news/world…

World Shipping Council releases Containers Lost at Sea Report: 2026 Update — World Shipping Council

The World Shipping Council has released its annual Containers Lost at Sea Report, showing that an estimated 1,478 containers were lost at sea in 2025 out of approximately 280 million transported...

worldshipping.org
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