30 Disturbing Photos Captured Of Things That Washed Ashore

1. A Blast From The Past - WWII Bombs

Image source Daily MailThe power of the tides cannot be under-estimated.  In 2011 , almost a hundred  World War II bombs were washed ashore on Calshot in Hampshire.  The whole area was evacuated for safety reasons (obviously) by the Royal Navy who took matters in their own hands and detonated them.

2. The Montauk Monster

Image source NY Daily NewsWhat could it possibly be?  Hard to tell the species of the mutant animal, washed up on the beach in Long Island and resting in the scorching sun.  The image went viral within a day!  What was disturbing was that it mysteriously disappeared as quickly as it appeared.  How weird!

3. Shoes, Shoes ......And More Shoes

Image source KTLAIn January 2019, the Dutch island of Terschelling woke up to find their shores being covered in a range of stuff - shoes, furniture and even car parts.  It was amusing at first until the realisation set in about the span of pollution and a big clean-up was organized.

4. A Very Old Message In A Bottle

Image source BBCThe oldest message in a bottle had been floating around for 151 years before it was finally picked up in Japan.  Written by Chunosuke Matsuyama, it describes the sad fate of 44 sea men searching for treasure, ended up as castaways on an island where they slowly died of starvation and dehydration.

5. Horrendous Smell Ends Up As Perfume

IImage source Wales OnlineWhale vomit, also known by its more glamourous sounding name of ambergris, is a very exciting find on a beach although it looks pretty grim.  Apparently, it sells for good money as it is used in the production of perfumes.  How something so bad can end up smelling so good!

6. Rubber Fender Is HUGE

Image source Daily MailIt doesn't look as monumental and dreadful when next to a ship, but when compared to a car on a beach, a ship's fender looks quite intimidating. No one had reported this one as missing and as people got used to the sight of it, it became a local tourist attraction.

7. Human Feet Still In Trainers

Since 2007, human feet, still in their in trainers, have been showing up on the coastline of British Columbia.   There have been over a dozen incidents of a severed foot tucked inside the footwear which is a bit of a stomach churner!  I wonder where the ret of the bodies are.

8. Colassal Amount Of Crabs

Image source Daily MailIn Hawaii, larvae of the crabs is not an uncommon sight but when there are so many in an environment, that is not a good situation!  Apparently, the little crabs couldn't dive due to the air bubbles in their shells, leaving them stranded on the beach.  Poor little things.

9. Eye Eye - What's This Then?

Image source USA TodayIf the eyeball, alone, is this size then can you image the scale of the sea creature that it belonged to?   Scientists concluded it isn't the eye of a squid because there are bones around the organ. It probably belongs to a majestic deep-water fish of some sort but the jury's still out on that one.

10. A Mystery In Hawaii

Image source Voanews.comWhen this object appeared on a Hawaiian beach, it gathered huge attention, mainy because no one actually knew what it was!  A team of experts examined it and concluded it was a submarine communication buoy but they needed to further investigate the age of the vessel.

11. Love Letters That Were Returned To Sender

Image source Daily MailThis story is Storm Sandy's silver lining.   Fifty seven love letters, written between 1942 and 1947, re-appeared out of the sea. The finder managed to identify the lovebirds and return the letters where they belonged.   What a wonderful ending to a romantic tale!

12. Not Once But Twice - That's Bananas!

Image source NBC News‌The Dutch Island of Terschelling is well known for all the wrong reasons as there have been numerous reports of things lost in the Island's waters.  In 2007, residents discovered hundreds of bananas washed ashore.  They had obviously fallen off a cargo ship but what to do with them now?  Well, they were donated to a zoo!

13. Not Having A Whale Of A Time

Image source Phys.orgEvery year, there are more and more news stories about whales being washed ashore worldwide and it's very distressing.  The occurrence is, to some exten, t natural but in some cases it is as a  consequence of irresponsible human behaviour - lethal amounts of platic have been found in their stomachs

14. Lego Man Swims To Shore

Image source WikipediaThe two and a half metre tall 'Lego man' is  strange one as he has surfaced on various beaches all over the world.  Made by an unknown Dutch artist who goes by the nickname Ego Leonard, it has appeared in destinations such as the Netherlands, the States, the UK and Japan.

15. A Siberian Snowball Fight

Image source Atlas ObscuraIt is a combination of ice, wind, the shoreline and a hint of magic! The result is a formation of icy snowballs to be found in the Gulf of Ob, deep in Siberia.  In  the arctic circle, snowballs of different sizes formed along a 17 km stretch on a beach.  That's a lot of balls!

16. Shark's Head With Nobody Around

Image source MetroThe sight of a severed shark's head is shocking enough but then you start to wonder what was it that bit the head off!  Maybe don't think about it! This terrifying image was found on a beach in Australia and weighed over 100 kg.   That would men the shark must have been over a tonne!

17. The Weirdest Of All Fish

Image source ScienceAlertIt is huge, it has no teeth and no tail - any ideas?  It is probably the weirdest fish you have ever seen. This elusive freak of nature has never been spotted in the northern hemisphere and its appearance in California got both the scientists and regular beachgoers all excited!

18. An Army Of Rubber Ducks Is Quackers

Image source YouTubeOver 29,000 rubber ducks were released into the Pacific Ocean in 1992  after a cargo ship leaving from China spilled its goods.  Since then, they have floated thousands of miles, turning up in the UK, Australia and South America.  Scientists have used them to follow ocean currents.

19. The Lethal Jellyfish - Sting In The Tail

Image source Irish NewsMany people find this harmless looking creature very beautiful , without realizing it could kill them.   The 'Portuguese-man-o'-war' is an enchanting sea creature which resembles a jellyfish and it should be avoided AT ALL COSTS!  They are occasionally found on beaches so watch out!

20. A Ghost Ship?

Image source Offbeat TravellingThis ship was found in a harbour on the Liberian coast without any lifeboats or survivors on board.  No one is sure of its story but it is thought it could have been looted by pirates or maybe the owner of the vessel couldn't pay his workers and they abandoned it.  It would be interesting to know the truth.

21. Not So Crunchy Doritos

Image source Virginian PilotLet's dip into this one.  In 2006 a snack lover’s dream came true when a ship headed to Central America carrying four shipping containers of Doritos.  Unfortunately, they were lost to the sea off the coast of Virginia. One of the containers was washed ashore on a North Carolina beach with hundreds of cases of the crispy treat in it.  Not sure how crunchy they would be although all the packets were intact!

22. Cocaine Decorates The Beach

Image source Wales OnlineNearly a tonne of cocaine was washed up on British beaches in a haul thought to be worth around £80million!  The drugs were stored in waterproof bags attached to life jackets and are thought to have floated to this country from South America.  Two separate consignments of packages were found strewn across beaches near Hastings and Newhaven in East Sussex.

23. Look What I dug up!

Image source Daily MailDuring January 2010, tides dropped to exceptionally low levels at Dundee Beach in Australia so a 10 year old boy and his dad took advantage of the receding waters and walked far out from the shore. They saw the gun barrel sticking out of the mud and quickly dug it out. After some internet research, they determined it was a vintage 16th-century Portuguese swivel gun which was used as anti-personnel weapons on ships.

24. Silence Of The Birds

Image source The GuardianA disturbing sight was witnessed by many when 6,000 birds were found washed up on the shoreline in Ontario, Canada back in 2011. The cause of death was believed to be from a form botulism caused by the birds eating dead fish.   The smell was said to be over-powering and many got involved in the clean-up operation.

25. Not The Kind Of Calamari You Order At A Restaurant

Image source Metro UKWhenever you walk along the beach, it’s quite usual to spot dead fish or other marine life washed up on shore.  Occasionally, even a whale will be seen.  During the winter of 2005, the California coastline was barraged by hundreds of dead giant squid.  They are normally found in very deep waters, 3,000 feet below the surface so very strange indeed.

26. Got A Bone To Pick

Image source Mumbai TodayIn 2007 on the beach at Dunwich, Suffolk, a miniature wire-haired dachshund, Daisy, discovered a huge fossilized, woolly mammoth leg bone, weighing 3 kg.  It's not sure exactly where it came from but it could have been around TWO MILLION YEARS OLD!  Wow!

27. Engine Failure For This Fighter Plane

Image source InsiderA USAF Lockheed P38 Lightning fighter aircraft appeared on the beaches of the Welsh Coast in 2010.  Named 'Maid of Harlech, the plane had crashed into the Welsh sea during a training exercise in 1942.  The changing beach front and seabed revealed the plane on the shore of the Gwynedd coast.

.28. Let's Get To The Root Of This

Image source US WeeklyIn Washington in  2010, a piece of driftwood washed up on the shore of La Push, a small coastal town on the north west of Washington’s western-most peninsula.  Nothing strange about that apart from the fact it was a complete, enormous tree that was at least 10 feet wide and 200 feet tall.

29. Throw A Six?

Image source Daily MailLocals of Coeur d’Alene in Idaho were a little puzzled to see a six-by-six-foot rusty metal dice wash up on their shores in 2017.  One side had pipes coming out of it and despite its extensive rust, the white spots were still immaculate!  Upon closer inspection, it appears somebody had put large white spots on an otherwise unremarkable service box!

30. German U Boat - Scrap That

With the end of World War I’s hostilities, the Imperial German Navy was surrendered to the allies.  This including the U-Boat, U-118. U-118 which was to be transferred to France and broken up for scrap. However, as it was being towed through the English Channel towards Scapa Flow, stormy weather caused the tow ropes to snap, leaving it floating about until it washed up on shore on the Hastings coast.