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Strange black cube box found on Thurso shoreline by beach cleaners


By David G Scott

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A mysterious huge black plastic box was removed from the coast at Thurso East this week by a beach cleaning couple.

Dorcas and Allan Sinclair found the four foot cube as they removed rubbish from the area as part of their eco-conscious group, Caithness Beach Cleans (CBC).

Allan Sinclair retrieves the huge float at Thurso East beach. Picture: Dorcas Sinclair
Allan Sinclair retrieves the huge float at Thurso East beach. Picture: Dorcas Sinclair
The huge black box was near Thurso Castle.
The huge black box was near Thurso Castle.

The coastal litter picking couple had been on a trip to buy hen food when they took what they thought was going to be a quick walk along the coast at Thurso East beach.

On Monday, Dorcas posted an update on the group's Facebook page stating: "Allan and I were on Thurso East this afternoon and came across a huge cube float. We managed to empty the water out and between us managed to move it up to the top – Allan did most of the moving but I helped at the difficult bit. We will go back for this tomorrow."

The couple reported that the black box was also filled with polystyrene and its sides measured around four feet. They believe it may be a float or buoy connected to the fishing industry.

Allan Sinclair and his wife Dorcas had to empty the huge box from the water in it before it could be taken from the coast.
Allan Sinclair and his wife Dorcas had to empty the huge box from the water in it before it could be taken from the coast.
Allan Sinclair gets to grips with a large amount of coastal debris that had piled up. Pictures: Dorcas Sinclair
Allan Sinclair gets to grips with a large amount of coastal debris that had piled up. Pictures: Dorcas Sinclair

Allan posted an update on the CBC page yesterday saying: "Most of what we recover is fishing gear, the river mouth is sometimes the exception – at this time of year there are a lot of drinks cans and bottles and a surprising number of thick plastic 'glasses'. There is also a surge when the show or the sideshow is in town.

"Rolling the buoy up the slope I stepped on an icy stone and my foot went flying – luckily my nose prevented me from face-planting the buoy. You can't even wipe tears away when you have a manky glove on."

Dorcas added a post that said: "Oh my! It was bad. It was bad with CANS!!! We found cones and tyres and all sorts and we didn't even reach as far as the castle."

Dorcas and Allan collected 135.67 lbs of rubbish from the coast excluding the black cube.

The beach cleaning couple also removed many cans that had accumulated on the coast at Thurso East.
The beach cleaning couple also removed many cans that had accumulated on the coast at Thurso East.

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