FLOATING objects are continuing to make their way across the Atlantic and washing up on Jersey’s shoreline.
A plastic baseball helmet and a “balloon” buoy from Canada are among the latest items found by Tracy and Malcolm Vibert – prolific beach cleaners who have been retrieving washed-up objects and litter from the shoreline for the past two decades.
The buoy has been traced to Pinkney’s Point, Nova Scotia, and was found at Belcroute on 24 January.
The baseball helmet, a smaller version of the type used by baseball players when batting, bears the logo of the baseball team formerly known as the Cleveland Indians and was found at Beauport.
The team was renamed the Cleveland Guardians in 2021, three years after ceasing to use the cartoon image of a character known as Chief Wahoo, following criticism for perpetuating Native American stereotypes.
At the start of January, the Viberts shared images of a 14ft marker buoy used by an American lobster fisherman which they found at La Pulente after it had drifted more than 3,000 miles across the Atlantic.
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.
In March 2020, a three-metre-tall buoy belonging to the US Coastguard was found off the south coast and towed into St Helier Harbour by a French customs vessel.
