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That plastic wrapper with tip top on has prob either blown of a landfill or there was a landfill near the sea an its washed away. I would have thought the salt would have wore the writing off if it had been in the sea for a while or the sea creatures would have bitten in to it. That washing up bottle was near it an there was no sign of rubbish on the mud cliffs of rhossilli so must have washed up from somewhere else near by.

On the banks of the tyne is a good place in the mud you need good wellys i found a near intact glass battery case by oldham batterys. When the tide is low the mudflats are exposed on the banks. On beaches its always intresting to look at the plastic stuff an see if there is any writing on the bottles an in what launguage as this is a good indicator of its origin. Never try to open those chemical drums that was up those blue ones as you never know what substance it may contain. On rare instances flares was up the fired ones are safe as there just hollow tubes but intact flares contain phosphurus which burns the skin leave them where they are an tell the coast guard i have found fired tubes but never found any intact flares yet.

There was an ammo dump at whitford sands gower an stuff sometimes washes ashore after storms but i have not found any. There are ammo dumps out to sea that contain bombs an phostgene gas from WW2 an fishermen dredge these up sometimes an they can cause skin irritation. There is a ship in the themes that contains bombs an there is concern that one day it could blow up. In japan there are loads of wrecks that contain live explosives out at sea. There is concern about the impact of ordinance dumped at sea that could be leaking. A while back a shell washed up at seaton sluce on the beach. The bomb disposal dealt with it on site. If i saw on of these id stear clear as vibration can set them off plus of there degrading state they are unpredictable.

Its a great pastime on any beach but care must be taken as some things in the detritus are a danger such as syringes an chemicals.

Some really interesting reads - thanks.  My boys are always on the hunt, weather on the beach or in the woods.  A couple of years ago they made themselves a nature pond (dug a bl**dy large hole at the bottom of the garden). There sits a Gnome and any find, whether car wheel trim, animal skull, dog lead, odd shoe they give it to him for treasure.                      Also if they find any money on their journeys, they put it in a pot for charity. The first year they collected £30 which I doubled for the Lifeboats,  last year was even better £80. Struggling this year - must be the credit crunch and people being more careful with the pennies - still another 8 months to go.

A few years ago we did find a message in a bottle, which we added our details to and threw it back into the sea. Immediately I felt the guilt of throwing litter back into the sea and haven't slept for years worrying the Litter Police will find me and track me down.

If i find anymore stuff thats kinda intresting i will post back on this. I wonder what il find at gower coast next week. Sadly at rhossili in 2007 i found a dolphin and her calf washed up there which was so sad to see. I have the photo but wont post it as there are young viewers here. The strange thing was when i first saw it there was no calf but when walking there the next day the calf must have come out prob dead. I did report this to the lifeboat station near the worms head and they where shocked when i said and showed them the photo on my camera.

I have seen dead trigger fish there to. Last year there were loads of star fish washing up. It seems everytime i go there i find at least a few of those plastic blue chemical barrals. I stay clear of these. Some items travel miles accross the seas to reach our shores and even reading some of the bottle lables can give a clue to where it came from. I have yet to find those sea beans these are exotic seeds which can sometimes be grown here.

http://www.seabean.com/what.htm If and when i find anything next week il post pics here. When your beachcombing you never know what you will find, with each tide there is always something new and after a storm this is the best time for good finds.

Quote: Originally posted by exide dm526 on 15/5/2009

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I have yet to find those sea beans these are exotic seeds which can sometimes be grown here.

http://www.seabean.com/what.htm If and when i find anything next week il post pics here. When your beachcombing you never know what you will find, with each tide there is always something new and after a storm this is the best time for good finds.

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I have only ever found spider crab claws and shells. I did see a hermit crab in a welk shell an it was alive in a rock pool. These sea beans travel miles some as far as the Amazon. Often after storms i have found goose barnicles clinging to bottles and rope. http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.glaucus.org.uk/GooseBarnacles4154-AJB.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Barnacle.htm&h=480&w=443&sz=50&tbnid=B9AkwYviVjv_yM::&tbnh=129&tbnw=119&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgoose%2Bbarnacle&hl=en&usg=__CYqhcxktfHv4dCn6tpHX7n-Zhm4=&ei=f84NSsC1NqXUjAf98p25Bg&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=3&ct=image

When in Whitby you often see kids fishing for carabs near the harbour with crab lines. There are a number of plastic ducks circling the globe and some have been found they were lost of a ship in 1992 but some are still unaccounted for there is a reward from the company who made them if you find any. So far i have found none.

 http://www.seabean.com/ThingsThatFloat/duckies/

This is a strange but funy find.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1081751/Pictured-The-giant-8ft-Lego-man-washed-beach.html