PRW
Published: September 11, 2014 11:05 am ET
Updated: September 11, 2014 11:11 am ET
Image By: Tracey Williams
Thousands of these mystery plastic pieces have been washing on shore in southern England for months.
A British writer and beachcomber is looking for help to identify thousands of small plastic objects which have washed up on the beaches of Porthtowan and Perranport in Cornwall, on England’s far southwest.
Tracey Williams, a Newquay-based writer, contacted PRW, a sister publication of Plastics News, with a plea to identify the items — which look like stoppers or bungs of some kind — and determine where they might be coming from.
Said Williams: “I’m part of a beachcombing group and I’ve personally picked up between 2,000 and 3,000 of these ‘bungs’ in recent months, but they’ve been turning up for years.
“I recently found two embedded in plastic containers and hoped it might provide a clue as to where they were coming from.”
The campaigning group Surfers Against Sewage refers to the items as ‘UFO’s, or ‘unidentified floating objects’.
Williams, who has also collected thousands of Lego pieces from local Cornish beaches, said suggestions as to the identity of the mystery objects included ear plugs and pen stoppers.
“They are 2 centimeters long, rigid, come in varying shades of blue, fading to white, and tend to wash up at the same two beaches. If you can help us solve the mystery we’d be most grateful!” | 
