A fisherman from England has found an unusual shark in his nets – a Lego figure from a cargo that fell into the sea during transport 27 years ago. This is the first shark figure recovered from the 51,800 pieces that fell overboard years ago. Figures from this set have been found before. They are of interest to archaeologists and oceanographers, who want to better understand ocean currents.
Richard West, 35, normally sails between Plymouth, Brixham and Newlyn, catching hake and sole. On Tuesday, as well as the fish, he found a Lego figure in his net – a small, grey shark figure.
He contacted Lego Lost At Sea founder Tracey Williams, who keeps a record of the bricks that went missing on February 13, 1997, when a storm surge swept 62 containers containing five million Lego bricks off the deck of the cargo ship Tokio Express, about 20 miles off the coast of Land's End, on the southwestern tip of Cornwall.
First shark found from over 50,000
Williams confirmed that this is the first ever Lego shark out of 51,800 pieces that fell overboard nearly 30 years ago. The figures were part of pirate sets.
“I'm happier about finding this shark than anything I've caught this week. (…) It's priceless, it's a treasure!” – said the fisherman, quoted by the BBC.
According to the official inventory, the lost containers contained 22,200 dark gray sharks and 29,600 light gray sharks. There were also other Lego elements, including 352,000 miniature diving fins, 54,000 pieces of sea grass, 33,941 dragons and 26,600 yellow life jackets for figurines.
Williams has appealed to anyone who finds Lego figures on the beach or floating in the sea to contact her, as she is keeping a record of the pieces as part of a scientific effort to recover missing artefacts. So far, figures from the Tokio Express have been found not only on beaches in Cornwall, but also on the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, Wales and Ireland.
In Search of the Lost Blocks
The Lego Lost At Sea project has won an award in one of the most important archaeology competitions in the UK, Current Archaeology Awards 2023.
The Lego bricks found are also of interest to oceanographers who want to use them to better understand the occurrence of ocean currents.
A study of brick fragments conducted by the University of Plymouth and published in 2020 found that a Lego brick can survive in the ocean for up to 1,300 years.
Main image source: X/@LegoLostAtSea