Pieces are still washing ashore from the Great Lego spill in 1997. This latest one from last week is a little life jacket piece.
In February 1997, the cargo ship Tokio Express was struck by a massive wave off the coast of Cornwall, sending 62 containers overboard. One of those containers carried nearly 5 million Lego pieces, many of them ocean-themed, like scuba tanks, flippers, octopuses, and tiny life jackets.
Nearly three decades later, these Lego relics are still washing ashore. Just last week, a small yellow life jacket piece appeared on a Cornish beach, a colorful survivor of the storm.
Fun facts: about 3 million of the spilled pieces were light enough to float, allowing them to drift across oceans. Collectors now track sightings of the lost Lego, and scientists use the spill to study how plastics travel on currents. Some pieces have even been found tangled in seaweed or resting on the seabed.
The Great Lego Spill has become part of maritime folklore, a quirky story of toys turned time capsules, but also a lasting reminder of how durable plastic remains in our environment.
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