First Lego shark from 1997 cargo spill set be snapped up at auction

A Lego shark lost at sea for nearly 30 years is set to go under the hammer.

Fisherman Richard West hauled up the rare toy in his nets last August.

It was almost three decades after millions of Lego pieces were swept overboard from the Tokio Express cargo ship in 1997.

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The vessel lost a staggering 4.75 million Lego pieces, including 51,800 sharks – 22,200 dark grey and 29,600 light grey ones.

But despite thousands of pieces washing up over the years, it’s taken 27 years for a shark to surface, as reported by What’s The Jam.

At the time, Richard said: “I could tell straight away what it was because I had Lego sharks in the pirate ship set when I was little.

“I loved them.

“I was so excited.

“It’s priceless – it’s treasure!”

The tiny plastic predator, found 20 miles south of Penzance, Cornwall, in August 2024, is now heading to auction with Plymouth-based auctioneer Anthony Eldred.

Mr Eldred said it’s hard to put a price on such a one-of-a-kind find.

He said: “This certainly is unique.

“A keen collector may well be interested and if more than one person becomes excited, the shark may well go for more than that.”

But it is not the only Lego sea creature to resurface.

In June, Jenny Smith, a hospital worker and mum-of-two from South Wales, found a black Lego octopus from the same spill while walking at Ginst Point, Laugharne.

The discovery is part of the Lego Lost At Sea project, which tracks pieces from the 1997 spill near Land’s End, Cornwall.

A spokesperson said: “The aim of the Lego Lost At Sea Project is primarily to raise awareness of the problem of plastic in the ocean – how it gets there, what sinks, what floats, how long it lasts, how far it drifts – both on the surface of the ocean and along the seabed – and what happens to it over time and as it breaks apart.”

The shark will be auctioned on 30 October to raise money for Cancer Research UK and The Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen.

Richard added: “I lost one of my best friends to cancer and another friend is battling it.

“I chose Cancer Research UK because everyone is affected by cancer and the Fishermen’s Mission is an amazing lifeline.”

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