# Identify these weird tubes on the beach **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 12, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936 "2014-04-12T14:23:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/1 "2014-04-12T14:23:20Z")
I encountered a weird object on the beach yesterday just past the water line. A group of clear plastic tubes that come out of the sand, and seem to be deep rooted, some of which a slow trifle of water are coming out of. Any idea of what it is? Pictures here: [https://www.flickr.com/photos/74153009@N00/sets/72157643842594595/](https://www.flickr.com/photos/74153009@N00/sets/72157643842594595/) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/2 "2014-04-12T15:41:13Z")
Reading the thread title, I was sure the tubes were going to be marine-life creations. I was wrong. _bump_ The water trickling out is just capillary action, right? ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/3 "2014-04-12T16:10:26Z")
Where is the beach? What is the diameter of the tubes? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/4 "2014-04-12T16:12:28Z")
Port Jefferson NY harbor. Maybe 3/4" Kayaker, not marine life, though it does remind me of some kind of alien biotech lol. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/5 "2014-04-12T17:29:45Z")
Before learning they were inorganic, I thought maybe this was gonna be akin to the giant seaweed I encountered for the first time on a lonely northern California beach decades ago. As an Ohio lad, I had never seen anything like it before. A bulb maybe six inches in diameter at the head, then tapering off down the length of it, which was often several feet. [This](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3006/3066204829_520481e61d_o.jpg) is the closest I could find in Google Images to what we saw, but most of it was larger than the biggest one here. It was an overcast evening, the beach was otherwise deserted, and the whole thing was just surreal. My friends and I also found a very large yellow plastic orb, close to the size of those exercise balls you see today. We finally figured out that this must have been something used to weigh down a fishing net, and it had broken away. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/6 "2014-04-12T17:30:38Z")
My WAG #1 will be pneumatic control lines from a manifold originally in a marine ship / production platform / airplane / yacht … WAG #2 will be a gas sampling manifold ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/7 "2014-04-12T17:38:41Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > [This](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3006/3066204829_520481e61d_o.jpg) is the closest I could find in Google Images to what we saw, but most of it was larger than the biggest one here. Search google for [Bull Kelp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nereocystis). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/8 "2014-04-12T17:50:32Z")
Some landowner nearby may be (illegally) dumping something and this is the outlet. Originally covered but now exposed. Having the pipe end in a splay of smaller tubes slows down the washing away of sand around it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/9 "2014-04-12T17:55:40Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The water trickling out is just capillary action, right? I’ve never seen capillary action create a flow like that (or else it could be used to run a perpetual motion machine). ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/10 "2014-04-12T18:03:04Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’ve never seen capillary action create a flow like that (or else it could be used to run a perpetual motion machine). The flow could simply be due to waves where one end of the tube is higher and the wave just hit it or it is sitting in a ditch filled with tide. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/11 "2014-04-12T18:04:46Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Some landowner nearby may be (illegally) dumping something and this is the outlet. Originally covered but now exposed. Having the pipe end in a splay of smaller tubes slows down the washing away of sand around it. That would be highly unlikely since tubes this small get easily choked in any liquid application. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/12 "2014-04-12T18:10:46Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > The flow could simply be due to waves where one end of the tube is higher and the wave just hit it or it is sitting in a ditch filled with tide. True - or it could be connected to some buried container that is squeezed by the weight of sand etc when the surface is exposed at low tide. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/13 "2014-04-12T21:37:00Z")
Start digging and report back. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/14 "2014-04-12T21:41:29Z")
My guess is underwater fiber optic cable sheaths. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/15 "2014-04-12T23:26:44Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > Search google for [Bull Kelp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nereocystis). Yep, that’s it all right. Thanks…I never knew what the stuff was actually called. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/16 "2014-04-13T00:25:45Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I encountered a weird object on the beach yesterday just past the water line. A group of clear plastic tubes that come out of the sand, and seem to be deep rooted, some of which a slow trifle of water are coming out of. Any idea of what it is? > > Pictures here: [https://www.flickr.com/photos/74153009@N00/sets/72157643842594595/](https://www.flickr.com/photos/74153009@N00/sets/72157643842594595/) Whoa. I’ll let you know if more show up a few miles westward from you… ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/17 "2014-04-14T03:54:47Z")
Perhaps the water was flowing out because he was standing on the sand and squashing the tubes ? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/18 "2014-04-14T08:57:59Z")
If the tubes run up the beach (i.e. inland) under the surface, the water might just be draining out of them under gravity - either because they filled up when the tide was in, or because it’s entering the other end (or an opening) further up the beach. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/19 "2014-04-14T13:46:49Z")
_That’s_ where I left that. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936/20 "2014-04-14T14:09:41Z")
Call Al Gore and let him know you found a break in the net. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-these-weird-tubes-on-the-beach/685936.md?page=2)