Beach Photography: The Strangest Things I Found Beachcombing in 2024

A battery-operated candle on the beach.

A photo journal of unusual found objects on the beach.

A light blue icon of an anchor.

I live in walking distance to the beach, so I’ve spent countless days this year walking along the shoreline beachcombing, meaning I look for interesting shells, sea glass, driftwood, and other items along the water’s edge. And while I look for these items, I inevitably come across some strange, unusual, and weird objects, too.

This year I started a beach photography project of found objects as a way to document all of these unusual beachcombing finds. Some are funny, some are mysterious, some are a little sad, but they’re all unexpected and leave questions unanswered. I wasn’t expecting to find any of these items as I walked along the beach, and probably will never see some of these types of items again.

Finding these unusual and weird items on the beach always gets me thinking about how they got there in the first place. Was a child playing with a toy on the beach, and forgot it there? Or was it washed ashore from a far away place? Was an item something that was thrown in the garbage that somehow made its way into the water, or was it ripped from someone’s home during a hurricane or storm surge? I’ll never have the answers, but will always wonder about them.

Here are the most unexpected and unusual items I found while beachcombing this year.


A blue Ganesh statue on the beach.

One of my strangest finds at the beach is this blue statue, which through some internet researching I’ve learned is a Ganesha statue. It doesn’t seem like it would be used as a beach toy, so I wonder how it got here? It was sitting in the shallow water near the beginning of a tide pool, and is missing a piece of its trunk.


A battery-operated tealight candle on the beach.

This battery-operated tea light candle was sitting here on the beach, as if it were placed there, although I’m pretty sure it came in with high tide. I kind of wish I had checked to see if it still worked, though I doubt it would have.


A plastic beaded bracelet on the beach.

This colorful beaded bracelet makes me a little sad, thinking a child made it and then lost it while swimming. It had washed in with the tide, so who knows how long it was in the water for.


An army man toy figure on the beach.

This army man toy came to rest in a clump of debris on the beach, including a seagull feather.


Related: Best of Beachcombing 2024: My Favorite Shells, Sea Glass, and Beach Pottery Finds


A burned page torn from a chapter book with an illustration of a unicorn.

One of my more mysterious beachcombing finds this year is this still-wet, burned page from a children’s chapter book, which after searching online I believe is Pearl the Magical Unicorn. Why did someone burn it, do they dislike the book that much? Or are they mad at the person who gifted them this book? We’ll never know.


A water squirt gun on the beach.

This water squirt gun came to rest in this interesting position on the sand after high tide brought it ashore.


Half of a plastic yellow easter egg on the beach.

Something I was surprised about while beachcombing throughout the year was the amount of plastic Easter eggs that washed ashore. Sometimes they were in half like this one, and sometimes they were whole. Where are they coming from, and how come so many have ended up in the ocean?


Related: 6 Beautiful Beach Sunset Color Palettes


A magenta glass stone on the beach.

A magenta glass stone that reminds me of the glass stones used when playing Mancala. It makes me wonder why it washed up on the beach by itself.


A Disney Palace Pets toy on the beach.

This toy was sitting on the water’s edge and had just come in with the tide. I’m sure a child was sad to lose this, which from some internet research I discovered is a Disney Palace Pet named Berry. This was discovered in the off-season, so I don’t think a child had forgotten it at the beach recently.


A DVD case with Hanuman on the cover on the beach.

Last but not least, one of the strangest things I found at the beach this year is this DVD case with what I believe is a homemade cover. Through a Google Images search I’ve discovered this is Hindu god Hanuman carrying Dronagiri mountain. I’m left with so many questions as to how this ended up in the water and washed up on the beach, and regret for not opening the case to see if the DVD was still inside.


This photography project of found objects on the beach was fun to collect throughout the year. Every time I was beachcombing and came across something odd, I’d get out my camera, and file these photos into a folder on my phone. I have more, but I decided to limit this post to ten photos. I’m planning to continue this project in 2025, so check back if you’ve enjoyed this beach photography collection.

All photos in this blog post are my original photography. Feel free to repost them uncropped, but please credit me with a link back to this blog. Thank you!

A light blue icon of an anchor.

Pin this graphic on Pinterest, or bookmark this page, so you can continue to refer back to the photographs in this collection of unusual beachcombing finds. And don’t forget to follow Stars & Anchor on Pinterest and on Instagram for more coastal lifestyle and beach inspiration.

A graphic showing an image of a battery-operated tealight candle on the beach. Text over the image says: The Strangest Things I've Found Beachcombing: a photo journal of unusual found objects on the beach.

The Strangest Things I’ve Found Beachcombing: a photo journal of unusual found objects on the beach


Have you found anything unusual on the beach? Which of these unusual found objects is your favorite? Share your beachcombing finds and thoughts in the comments.

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