Twenty-seven years after a freak wave sent millions of Lego pieces plunging into the sea off Land’s End, 2024 has yielded remarkable new discoveries, including the first-ever recovered Lego shark from the famous spill.
The Great Spill
On February 13, 1997, the Tokio Express cargo ship lost 62 shipping containers about 20 miles off Land’s End. One container held nearly 5 million Lego pieces, many appropriately sea-themed. Since then, these pieces have traveled far and wide, washing up on shores from south-west England to Norway.
Notable 2024 Discoveries
The year’s most significant find came from Plymouth fisherman Richard West, who discovered the spill’s first-ever reported Lego shark in his nets 20 miles south of Penzance. “I could tell straight away what it was because I had Lego sharks in the pirate ship set when I was little,” West said. “It’s priceless – it’s treasure!”
According to Tracey Williams, founder of the Lego Lost at Sea project, this discovery is particularly noteworthy as the original manifest showed 51,800 sharks were lost:
22,200 dark grey sharks
29,600 light grey sharks
The rarity of shark discoveries has a simple explanation: “The sharks sink,” Williams explains, “which explains why so few have been found. There are probably some 50,000-plus still lying on the seabed, some making their way ashore, others heading into deeper waters.”
Other Notable Finds
The year has seen several other significant discoveries:
Increased numbers of yellow spear guns (from an original 53,120 lost)
A black octopus found by 14-year-old Liutauras at Marazion beach
Two rare black dragons discovered (from 33,427 lost)
A blue flipper found on a Norwegian beach
Two yellow life rafts (from 28,700 lost)
A previously unreported grey panel design
Young Collector’s Success
Fourteen-year-old Liutauras has emerged as one of the year’s most successful collectors, amassing nearly 800 pieces including:
A rare black octopus (one of 4,200 lost)
Two black dragons
Various flippers, witches’ brooms, and divers’ equipment
Still Missing
Several pieces remain undiscovered, including:
Magic wands
Dragon wings
Witches’ hats
Global Impact
The spill’s reach continues to expand, with pieces found in:
South-west England
Channel Islands
Wales
Ireland
The Netherlands
Norway
Environmental Significance
The Lego Lost at Sea Project, which won Rescue Project of the Year in the 2023 Current Archaeology Awards, serves a greater purpose than just tracking toys. “The aim is primarily to raise awareness of the problem of plastic in the ocean,” Williams explains, “how it gets there, what sinks, what floats, how long it lasts, how far it drifts, and what happens to it over time.”
The project continues to document new discoveries, with Williams encouraging anyone finding pieces to contact the Lego Lost at Sea team for inclusion in their mapping project. As fishing crews and beachcombers make new discoveries, this accidental experiment in ocean currents and plastic pollution continues to yield insights about our seas.
