BUOY ZONE

Story behind huge object washed up on Gwynedd beach

- By ANDREW FORGRAVE Countryside and Tourism Editor [e-mail]

OVER the years, all manner of strange things have washed up on the West Wales coast - from whales to giant turtles, and even bags of cocaine.

But few cut such a surreal sight as the massive buoy that stranded on a Gwynedd beach this week.

Looking like an outsized Christmas bauble, online it was likened to a “dragon's egg”

It was reported to be on the move last weekend and washed up on Monday, carried by a high tide.

It settled on Cemetery Beach, a long stretch of sand running from Aberdyfi to Tywyn. Named after a nearby graveyard, it was an ironic destination for a lump of metal whose sole function is to prevent boats and ships from meeting a sticky end.