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Fisherman finds first lost Lego shark off the coast of Cornwall

14.8.2024

Translation: machine translated

A rare catch has been netted by a fisherman in the English county of Cornwall. A Lego shark that sank in 1997 with around five million other Lego pieces.

Sharks rarely end up in fishing nets - and Lego sharks are even rarer. British fisherman Richard West was therefore amazed when he discovered a small plastic shark in his catch at the beginning of August.

27 years ago, a cargo ship container with almost five million Lego parts sank in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of England. Among them were 58,000 Lego sharks, the first of which West has now discovered.

According to the BBC, he found the small shark 32 kilometres from the southern English coastal town of Penzance. He had actually been fishing for monkfish, sole and grouper there. The fisherman told the news site: "I knew what it was straight away because when I was little I had Lego sharks in the pirate ship set. I loved them." He said he was more excited about the Lego shark than anything else he had caught that week.

The fisherman found this Lego shark, which was lost in 1997, in his net.
Source: legolostatsea / Instagram

Lego Lost At Sea: Now only 51,799 sharks need to be found

The project "Lego Lost At Sea" by Tracey Williams documents such rare Lego finds. On Instagram, "Lego Lost At Sea" confirmed that West's find was the first reported of 51,800 lost sharks and wrote: "Now there are only 51,799 left!" The shark found was only missing a dorsal fin.

The lucky fisherman contacted Williams and reported his find. According to "Lego Lost At Sea", 22,200 dark grey and 29,600 light grey Lego sharks were lost in the accident on 13 February 1997. A huge wave washed 62 shipping containers from the "Tokyo Express" into the sea off the western coast of England.

The rare finds are to be reported to the team so that they can document them and record them on a map. Just a few months ago, a 13-year-old boy in Cornwall found one of the lost Lego animals, an octopus:

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Boy finds rare Lego octopus on the Cornish coast
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The passionate "beachcomber" told the media afterwards that he really wanted to find a kite next. According to "Lego Lost At Sea", he succeeded in doing so just a few days ago.

If you are interested in which Lego sets the shark that has now been found could have appeared in: Among others, in the sets "Shark Cage Cove", "Shark Attack" and "Deep Sea Bounty". The sets are no longer available in stores today, but are sold on second-hand sales portals such as Ebay.

Header image: Lidero/Shutterstock

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Anne Fischer

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Anne.Fischer@galaxus.de

A true local journalist with a secret soft spot for German pop music. Mum of two boys, a dog and about 400 toy cars in all shapes and colours. I always enjoy travelling, reading and go to concerts, too.

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