A MARKER buoy used by an American lobster fisherman has washed up on the Island’s coast after drifting more than 3,000 miles across the Atlantic.
The 14-foot pole, used to mark lobster pots or nets, was found at La Pulente by Tracy and Malcolm Vibert.
The couple are prolific beach cleaners who have been retrieving washed-up objects and litter from the shoreline for the past two decades, weighing and cataloguing their finds when they get back to their St Helier home.
Mrs Vibert said: “We’ve found all sorts of things over the years, but this was one of the biggest – it seemed like it had been at sea for a long time, as it was covered in goose barnacles and was pretty smelly.”
After removing the barnacles, Mrs Vibert was able to discern the name of the fisherman in Marshfield, Massachusetts, to whom the buoy belonged, and is now trying to contact him.
“We haven’t spoken to him yet, but I’ve identified him via a Facebook group for lobster fishermen and hopefully he’ll find out that the buoy has ended up here,” Mrs Vibert added.
Over the years, the couple have found a range of different items, including Christmas decorations, sea beans from Costa Rica and several messages in bottles.
It’s not the first trans-Atlantic crossing to Channel Island waters by a floating object – in March 2020, a three-metre tall buoy belonging to the US Coastguard was found off the south coast.
After being spotted by crew on a Condor ship, the buoy was retrieved by a French customs vessel and towed into St Helier harbour.
Other unusual objects have been discovered around the coast in recent years, including the cover of a manual for an aircraft carrier’s nuclear reactor, and an ocean data recorder which washed ashore at La Pulente in 2016 after travelling all the way from Florida.
