Tokio Adrift
by Tracey Williams
March 2023
In 1997, sixty-two containers fell off the cargo ship Tokio Express after it was hit by a rogue wave off the coast of Cornwall—including one container filled with nearly five million pieces of Lego, much of it sea-themed.
In the months that followed, beachcombers started to find Lego washed up on beaches across the Southwest coast. Among the pieces they discovered were plastic octopuses, sea grass, spear guns, life rafts, scuba tanks, cutlasses, flippers and dragons. The pieces are still washing up today, along with countless other non-biodegradable items.
