Seagulls everywhere have been dreaming of this day.
A beach in Sussex, England is awash in french fries after several shipping containers containing “food and packaging” fell off their transport ship earlier this week, dumping “thousands of bags” of the salty snacks along the shore.
Locals said the french fries were piled two-and-a-half feet deep in some areas. Joel BonniciThe unusual sight shocked locals, who said the fries were 2.5-feet deep in some spots.
Local Joel Bonnici told BBC he “had to look twice” during his Saturday morning walk in Falling Sands where the spud tsunami made landfall.
The washed-ashore fries were strewn nearly as far as the eye could see. Joel Bonnici
“The beach looked like the Caribbean golden sands,” he told the outlet.
The HM Coastguard said 16 containers fell from a cargo vessel last month, which resulted in food items like onions and bananas washing up on the beach, but “nothing compares to this,” Bonnici said.
It’s feared the plastic bags left behind once the fries made landfall and broke free of their packaging could present a hazard to aquatic wildlife, including a small colony of nearby seals.
The beach was left littered by plastic bags that once contained the fries, prompting a call for volunteers on social media to clear the debris before they can harm aqatic animals. Joel Bonnici“I scuba dive quite regularly, and I know what seals are like. If they see the bags they will play with them or try to eat them,” he said.
A call has been made on a local Facebook group seeking volunteers to help clear the beach of the debris.
The East Sussex County Council has put out a warning to locals to take precautions if they’re visiting the beach anytime soon.
“Please keep dogs on leads as some of the food items washing on to the shoreline may be harmful to them,” a spokesperson said.
The coast guard has deployed aircraft to look for additional spilled cargo containers but said no no others have been spotted offshore.
