In 1977, a giant wave struck a ship, causing 62 containers to fall into the sea; 27 years later, a fisherman recovered a toy shark and five million Lego pieces

When it comes to bizarre occurrences, human history is full of them. In August 2024, a fishing boat found its nets filled with Lego pieces. At first, the crew couldn’t fathom how this collection had ended up there. The answer, in fact, lay nearly 27 years in the past.

In 1997, a cargo ship lost more than 50,000 Lego pieces during a voyage. This means that these items have been floating in the sea for over 25 years. Furthermore, people still report finding these toys from time to time. The cause of this incident was a wave that tipped the ship more than 60 degrees.

A project has been established to identify all the recovered pieces.

This event took place on February 13, 1997, when the container ship Tokyo Express could not withstand the impact during its voyage from Rotterdam to New York. Specifically, the incident occurred off the coast of Cornwall. It is estimated that 62 containers fell into the sea and were never recovered. As it happens, much of the cargo was related to a nautical theme—which explains why the items have managed to persist over the years.

A subsequent tally revealed that approximately 97,500 scuba tanks, 4,200 black octopuses, life jackets, fins, harpoons, plastic seaweed, and 33,941 toy dragons had been lost, as detailed by Demotivatour. Most curiously, these Lego pieces did not end up in just this one area.

Toys from that ship have been recorded on beaches in Wales, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, and even as far away as Norway. A project called "Lego Lost at Sea" was even established, where people can register any pieces they find.