Kent, United Kingdom Two fisherman aboard the fishing vessel 'Wayward Lad' pulled up a WWII era sea mine in their nets. The men decided the strap the munition to the boat deck before heading back towards the shore. One the way to shore, they called the Coastguard to report the unusual find. The Coastguard contacted the Royal Navy for technical support. An EOD team was dispatched from Portsmouth to deal with the munition. The EOD team met the fishing vessel a mile from the Isle of Grain.

[More]

Anna Maria, Florida A beachcomber looking for sea shells found a grenade several feet from the shore near the Rod and Reel pier. The beachgoer, a veteran of the Afghanistan war, recognized the hazard immediately and called the police. The police responded with technical support from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad.

The bomb squad safely removed the corroded grenade from the area and transported it off-site for safe disposal. The grenade reportedly dated back to WWII era. Authorities suspect that the grenade came from when Anna Maria Island and Egmont Key was used as an ammunition storage facility.

[More]

Peterhead Port, Scotland Fishing trawler Opportinus IV pulled up a munition item in one of their nets. However, rather than immediately reporting the find to authorities, the captain of the vessel decided to strap the munition to the hull of the boat so he could continue fishing. Reportedly, the captain did not feel as though the crew or vessel was in any danger from the munition so he did not see a reason to cut short his trip.

When the vessel returned from its fishing trip a week after discovering the munition, the find was reported to the Peterhead Port Harbor Master's office. The Harbor Master called the police who responded and evacuated the area and workers at the nearby Denholm Seafoods factory.

[More]

Dunedin, New Zealand A fishing boat trawling in the Tasman Sea north of Dunedin brought up an old rusty bomb. The crew, with no munitions training, decided to keep their 'interesting find' on-board the vessel. As they cruised to port the following morning, the crew decided it was best to report their find to Authorities. The Dunedin police responded and evacuated a 100 meter zone around the ship in Port Otago.

[More]

Cape Lookout, North Carolina A visitor collecting shells along the northern end of North Cove Banks came across a suspect munition item that washed ashore. The man reported the find to the park rangers who setup an exclusion zone around the area and reported the find to the police. The police responded with technical support from an EOD team from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. EOD identified the munition shown below as a WWII era unexploded bomb. EOD safely detonated the bomb in place with a counter charge. The beach area of the park was re-opened to the public shortly after the successful disposal procedure was completed.

Darwin, Australia A beachgoer walking on Vestys beach came across an item he thought looked suspicious. The man decided to move the item to a more remote location away from the beach before calling the police to report the find. Police responded with technical support provided by an Australian Defence Force EOD team. EOD identified the item as a 1 pound demolition charge (MK AN1). EOD safely removed the charge from the beach for safe and proper disposal. An investigation is underway to determine how the unexploded charge ended up on the beach.

Lewes, Delaware Park rangers at the Henlopen State Park discovered an old rusted military shell just above the high tide line of the Atlantic Ocean . The park rangers called the Delaware State Police who responded with an Air Force EOD team out of Dover Air Force Base. The munition could not be positively identified due to the amount of rust and barnacles on the item but authorities suspect that it is a WWI era mortar shell.

EOD safely relocated the munition from the area for further analysis and proper disposal. The beach was closed for several hours during the incident but was reopened to the public shortly after the munition was transported off-site.

[More]

Hampton Bays, New York A beachgoer on Ponquogue Beach discovered an old rusted mortar round near the concession stand. The lifeguards reported the find to the police who responded with the Suffolk County Police Bomb Squad and Emergency Response Section. Police evacuated the area and a bomb disposal technical in a bomb suit inspected the item. The bomb disposal technician identified the munition as an "intact mortar" (size and nomenclature not reported). The bomb squad safely disposed of the munition without incident and reopened the beach to the public. An investigation is underway to determine how the munition ended up at the beach.

Studland, United Kingdom A fishing trawler pulled up a six foot long pipe like object with fins on one end in one of their nets. Concerned that the item may be a UXO, the Captain lowered the item back into the water and placed a buoy to mark the spot. He then immediately contacted the Coastguard who responded with technical support from a bomb disposal team based from Portsmouth. EOD searched the area around the buoy with an underwater magnetomer from their boat but were unable to reacquire the item. EOD stopped short of sending a dive team into the waters to conduct a manual search for the suspect UXO. The area and waters around Studland are known to contain munitions from when the area was used for gunnery practice during WWII.

Cape Agulhas, South Africa A commercial fishing trawler fishing 90 miles off-shore pulled up a large old rusted metal cylinder. The crew had no idea what the strange object from the sea was but standard procedure was not to drop heavy objects brought up by their nets back overboard unless they were too dangerous to transport back. When the ship returned from sea, cranes were used to unload any large debris items found. Assuming that the rusted heavy barrel like object was nothing more than debris, the crew secured it to the deck and continued to fish.

[More]