Sometimes you find a cool shell at the beach and your day has been made. Well, what if you would've found one of THESE crazy things. The ocean is a place of unexplored beauty and mystery, but at times that mystery gets upped to the next level. All of these are mostly unexplained things that have, in one way or another, wound up found by someone on a beach.
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Giant Oarfish found at the beachPhoto Credit : CSUF PhotosGiant Oarfish
I know, you're thinking, wow, a fish washed up on the ocean? SCANDAL. But would you look at the SIZE OF THIS GUY? Usually, oarfish are only found in the deepest sea, and can live up to 3,000 feet below the surface. Scientists are completely unable to explain this one traveling so close to shore. These bad boys can reach up to 30 feet, and may originally be the origin of "sea serpent" tales on old. Can't imagine why. It doesn't at all remind me of a terror snake from the ancient, untold depths.
Giant Lego ManPhoto Credit : Angela WatercutterA Life-Sized Lego Man
Another case of somebody leaving their toys lying around. Kids these days, and their 10-foot-tall lego men. This guy was found washed up on the shore mysteriously in Florida, England, and then the Netherlands, with a strange green t-shirt saying only "No Real Than You Are". On the back, the number 8, and the mysterious name "Ego Leonard". It was found to be the stage name of a Dutch experimental artist. The Lego suddenly makes sense.
Manta Rays on BeachPhoto Credit : globalpost.comHundreds of Manta Rays
Like a scary buildup of a Stephan King apocalypse novel, hundreds of manta rays were all washed ashore for no explained reason on February 2011 in Gaza City. Scientists speculate that the rays could have been disoriented by an electrical signal or a storm, but no evidence to suggest such has come up. I guess we have to just wait until all the animals in the zoo face north at the same time or whatever happens next in this book.
Grand Piano at BeachPhoto Credit : Several seconds7 Days / 6 Nights
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Grand Piano
No, it was not just a piano that washed up on the Miami shore in January of 2011, but a burnt piano, charred from some mysterious fire. Looking like a reject prop of an alt-rock music video, turns out, that wasn't far off. A sixteen-year-old created the "junk art installation" piece, hoping to use the photographs as a kick-start to her college application process. I mean, the kid's showing some ambition, she had to get that piano in there somehow. I'd give that a few points.
Decapitated Croc Head at beachPhoto Credit : Caters News AgencyDecapitated Crocodile Head
When a couple from St. Lucia, South Africa found the very cleanly decapitated crocodile head on a local South African beach, the picture instantly became a viral hit. The reason or source of the head has still to be explained, and you know, there's really not a whole lot that can explain something like this. Oh, ocean and your silky, infinite mystery.
Monsters Eye found on beachPhoto Credit : nbcchicago.comMysterious Monster Eye
No, it isn't an orb of all-seeing knowledge, or perhaps the eye of Sauron from LOTR. It is a single giant sea creature's eye, that washed up on Pompano Beach, Florida in October of 2012. The solitary beautiful baby blue came from something, but scientists still haven't figured out quite what. Their best guess is one of the biggest swordfish that have ever existed. I mean, the eye alone is the size of a grapefruit, so the monster at hand is more like the size of the grapefruit tree. So technically alien apocalypse monster is not ruled out. Neither is eye that tells the future. Maybe you just have to know the right questions to ask.
Motorcycle at the beachPhoto Credit : APA Motorcycle from 4,000 Miles Away
In the category of most stylish escapes, we have the motorcycle of Ikuo Yokohama, that washed up on the shore of Graham Island in western Canada, after traveling the 4,000 miles that it was sent in last year's great tsunami. It was identified by the numbered container that the owner had previously kept it in, which eventually washed away and left the motorcycle buried in the sand like a bittersweet memorial to the good life.
Old message in a BottlePhoto Credit : wordpressA 98 Year old Message in a Bottle
In an event that I picture to be a forlorn, melancholy letter to a once love traveling at sea, turns out it was just an experiment to track the tides in 1914. 98 years later, the bottle showed up less than 10 miles from where it started. But I'm sure it holds an ocean of stories. Disappointing to the finders probably, but at least my message in a bottle still has a chance at making it to my love on his shrimp boat adventure. Fingers crossed.
Old Tombstone on beachPhoto Credit : Megan FarmerA 150-Year-Old Tombstone
The story definitely starts with silver pools of moonlight, a chill in the air, and the mysterious rustle of leaves from any direction but where your feet are. And then the tombstone documenting the curse of the beach rises from the waves like an IM chat from the sea gods. But really, the tombstone was of 26-year-old Delia Presby Otter, whose body was moved to an anonymous grave once many municipal graveyards were emptied and moved in the early 1910s. The tombstones were used in makeshift damns when the highway came in direct threat to oceanwater.
