Legos Are Still Washing Up On Beaches 25 Years After Being Dumped In The Ocean

It’s hard to believe that 25 years have passed since 4.8 million pieces of Lego were dumped into the water off the coast of Cornwall.

Although that happened back in 1997, it is still being celebrated in interesting ways, thanks to the power of the ocean.

The event, which the Smithsonian is calling the Great Lego Spill, was a catastrophe on many different levels.

It happened when the Tokio Express was transporting goods to New York from the Netherlands. 62 of the shipping containers were lost from the vessel when a 28-foot wave tumbled them from the deck.

A variety of items ended up in the water, including disposable lighters, superglue, and a large container of Lego sets. In a bizarre twist, many of those Legos had a nautical theme and they continue to show up on beaches around the world ever since.

If you happen to be walking along the shore, you may just find pieces of Lego that have been floating around ever since that environmental disaster. Many of the finds are in the area of Cornwall, but it isn’t out of the question to find them on beaches thousands of miles away.

In fact, it is estimated by oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer that some of those pieces may have drifted more than 62,000 miles. Considering the fact that over 3 million Legos involved in the accident were light enough to float, it is hard to imagine where they could be found.

This isn’t something that is only seen on a temporary basis. Since it takes up to 1300 years for Legos to break down at sea, we may be finding them for centuries.