A fisher from Devon has caught a rare Lego shark 27 years after it went missing from a shipping container in the 1990s.
The toy is one of 5m pieces lost overboard in the “Great Lego Spill of 1997”, when a freak wave hit a cargo ship called the Tokio Express off the coast of Cornwall. The pieces are still washing up today.
Richard West, a 35-year-old fisher living in Plymouth, discovered the long-lost shark 20 miles south of Penzance on Tuesday. He contacted the project Lego Lost at Sea, whose founder Tracey Williams confirmed the piece to be the first-ever reported shark from the spill.
“It’s way better than any fish I’ve caught all week,” said West. “I’m so happy about it.”
West found the object lying on top of his fishing nets while sailing the Defiant FY848 in search of monkfish and sole. “I could tell straight away what it was because I had Lego sharks in the pirate ship set when I was little. I loved them,” West told the BBC. “It’s been 25 years since I’ve seen that face.”
The plastic object, which West has nicknamed Sharky, is worn from more than two decades underwater and is missing its dorsal fin. Over time the submerged lego pieces break apart into smaller and smaller fragments, eventually becoming microplastics.
Williams said the sharks featured in several Lego sets from 1997, including Shark Cage Cove, Shark Attack and Deep Sea Bounty. The official Lego inventory showed that 22,200 dark grey Lego sharks and 29,600 light grey ones were in the lost container – 51,800 sharks in total.
“Richard and I now have joint custody of the shark,” Williams added.
Many of the pieces found from the shipping container are sea-themed – they include life rafts, scuba tanks, cutlasses, flippers and seagrass.
A few months ago, a 13-year-old boy found a “holy grail” Lego octopus washed up on a beach in Marazion. The octopuses are considered the most prized finds as only 4,200 were onboard.
Williams started the Lego Lost at Sea project as a “bit of fun” during the summer holidays, but more than 80,000 Facebook and X followers later, Williams has united a global community of beachcombers monitoring where the Lego and other cargo spills are turning up. She also published a book in 2022 showcasing her work.
As well as creating an archive of our times, the project has helped raise awareness around the waste that has populated Britain’s beaches, said Williams.
“It’s encouraged people to get into beach cleaning and other environmental action,” Williams said, “and it helps explain things like ocean currents and the dangers of plastic pollution. Although so much plastic on the beach can be overwhelming, sorting through it can be strangely cathartic. It’s order from chaos.”
Williams has begun mapping the findings for a scientific paper on the spill, and she encourages anyone who has found any of the pieces to get in touch with Lego Lost at Sea.
Adrift by Tracey Williams (Unicorn Publishing Group, £20). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
