From Ukraine to Gaza
When whales or walruses die, they sometimes get washed up on shores where polar bears eat off the meat. So these gigantic bones are left behind.
In 1997, 62 shipping containers plunged into the sea letting 4.8 million Lego pieces into the ocean. They are usually found on the coasts of the UK.
These critters are usually hard to see, but off the Cook Islands there are thousands. They clean the water, acting as a filter for the aquatic ecosystem.
In 2012, after Hurricane Sandy, some love letters from WWII were found in New Jersey. The finder located one of the writers, Dorothy Fallon, and reunited her with her romantic correspondence.
Also known as ambergris, it comes from sperm whales and is used to make perfumes. It is extremely expensive, and if you're lucky you'll find it washed up on the beach. The one time vomit is a good thing!
In 2017, lots of perfect white balls floated up onto the shore of Port Sheldon in Michigan. The only other place this is known to happen is Lake Michigan.
The plane known as the "Maid of Harlech" washed up onto a Welsh beach in 2007, having disappeared in 1942. That is over 60 years of floating around on the ocean floor!
In 1992, a shipping container full of rubber ducks tipped into the ocean. For years they have popped up in Australia, the US, and even the Arctic Circle.
In 2016, a large humpback whale was found on a California beach. No one knows how it died, but it is rare that whales wash up onto the shore.
Sadly, oil spills are a frequent occurrence. In 2013, 50,000 liters of crude oil soaked Ao Prao beach in Thailand.
In 1980, a shipping container full of novelty Garfield telephones was lost off the coast of Brittany in France. These funky phones have been popping up ever since.
On a January morning in 2017, these little toy eggs washed up on a German beach. They had come from a Danish ship that had lost some of its freight in a storm. It's safe to say the kids were pretty pleased!
In New Zealand in 2012, a cargo ship struck a reef and released some of its contents into the ocean. Among the oil and shipping containers the ship's supply of milk powder was lost and found its way to Tauranga.
The bunker did not actually wash up from the ocean but came down from the land due to erosion on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, England. It is a strange addition to the beach landscape.
In 2015, this huge tooth was found in Croatia. It belongs to the extinct species of the Megalodon: a terrifying beast that looked like a shark on steroids.
Their real name is egagropili. In Australia, the fibrous strands of Neptune grass get into the ocean and get washed around. They often get rolled up into little balls by the waves, like the hairballs of the ocean.
Named the Mariwai Monster, this strange thing washed up onto a beach near Auckland, New Zealand. Since it materialized in 2016, people have theorized that it is an alien pod. It is actually just a huge bit of drift wood completely covered in Gooseneck barnacles.
In Australia, Fraser Island is known for shipwrecks. One example is that the SS Maheno crashed and was being towed back to Japan when a storm snapped the tow chain and left it to drift onto the Island. There have been 23 reported shipwrecks on Fraser Island.
As part of the same cargo spill, some containers just washed up whole. It was a large hazard because they contained toxic materials and fuel.
Another sad reality is that clumps of palm oil wash up on our beaches as well. Due to a cargo spill, many of Hong Kong's beaches were closed in 2017 to keep sunbathers away from this toxic debris.
In 2009, residents of Worthing in the UK county of Dorset found thousands of planks of wood on their shore. It turns out they came from a Greek cargo ship that sunk in the English Channel.
Sources: (loveEXPLORING)(Mental Floss)(Reader's Digest)
See also: Weird and wonderful things found in the depths of the ocean
In 1980, this ship washed up onto an idyllic beach on Zakynthos, Greece. It is said that the ship was originally used for smuggling and that the crew abandoned it when the navy were after them.
After Storm Gertrude in 2016, a giant buoy washed up onto the British coast from the deepest parts of the surrounding ocean. The wind was going at a whopping 132 mph (212 kph), definitely strong enough to displace a tightly tethered buoy.
In 2000, archeologist Tony Gill found the fossil of a 180 million-year-old Ichthyosaur on the English coastline. The fossil is huge at 40 feet (12 meters)!
In 2013, 220 manta rays washed up on the beach in Gaza City. It is a mystery as to how they got there. They were already dead when they washed up, but it is rare that manta rays ever wash up on the shore.
Off the coast of Alabama and Louisiana little tar balls have been washing up ever since the tragic Deepwater Horizon oil spillage of 2010.
In 2014 a Danish cargo ship got caught in a storm and accidentally lost 500 containers of cigarettes, an estimated US$4 million's worth, in the ocean by the British coast.
While we usually find shells, fish, and pretty pebbles on beaches, there have been some pretty weird discoveries in the last century. On the beaches near busy shipping routes, for example, some of the most bizarre merchandise has been found, including cat-shaped telephones and giant hairballs. There has also been strange natural phenomena and devastating environmental pollution.
If you're curious about what crazy objects have been found on our beaches, take a look through this gallery.
Weird things that have washed up on beaches
A series of strange debris
LIFESTYLE Ocean
While we usually find shells, fish, and pretty pebbles on beaches, there have been some pretty weird discoveries in the last century. On the beaches near busy shipping routes, for example, some of the most bizarre merchandise has been found, including cat-shaped telephones and giant hairballs. There has also been strange natural phenomena and devastating environmental pollution.
If you're curious about what crazy objects have been found on our beaches, take a look through this gallery.