# What is the object that washed up on the beach? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 2018, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-object-that-washed-up-on-the-beach/822685 "2018-10-09T12:09:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-object-that-washed-up-on-the-beach/822685/1 "2018-10-09T12:09:26Z")
Apparently it’s made of foam… [https://uk.news.yahoo.com/locals-baffled-mysterious-object-washed-beach-085035192.html](https://uk.news.yahoo.com/locals-baffled-mysterious-object-washed-beach-085035192.html) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-object-that-washed-up-on-the-beach/822685/2 "2018-10-09T12:14:03Z")
The comments on the story seem to agree that it’s a floatation collar for a pipeline of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-object-that-washed-up-on-the-beach/822685/3 "2018-10-09T12:18:23Z")
It kind of looks like some kind of buffer/support for a large pole or pillar that would be inserted at the top. The foam, when new and flexible, would have some give to it and a cushioning effect for whatever was inserted into it at the top. Just a hunch. :shrug: ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-object-that-washed-up-on-the-beach/822685/4 "2018-10-09T12:52:25Z")
Insulation for a deep sea oil production riser? Like this product pictured here? [AFGHoldings | AFGlobal | Agile thinking. Engineering change.](http://www.afglobalcorp.com/products-and-services/production/insulation) ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-object-that-washed-up-on-the-beach/822685/5 "2018-10-09T13:02:21Z")
There can’t be too many places that make foam products that big. I bet a few calls by a reporter could have eliminated this mystery.:rolleyes:🙂 (I deleted my rant about investigative reporters)😃 ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-object-that-washed-up-on-the-beach/822685/6 "2018-10-09T13:13:52Z")
A few weeks back, komolono was trying to make an enclosure for deep sea ( albeit that was with concrete). Maybe this was his first experiment. 🙂 Jokes aside, crude oil produced offshore requires pipes to be insulated until it is processed. This is because crude oil has waxes that would otherwise congeal and foul/ block the pipelines. This is a piece of that. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-object-that-washed-up-on-the-beach/822685/7 "2018-10-09T13:46:04Z")
Only caveat I’d have is that most pipe floats (like for dredging - I’m familiar with ones used in offshore diamond dredging) are in two halves - semi-cylinders which clamp around the pipe - whereas this looks like a complete cylinder. I’m not saying the semi-cylinder is the only kind, though. But I’m more inclined to say it’s from a buoy or similar. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-object-that-washed-up-on-the-beach/822685/8 "2018-10-09T14:12:29Z")
So THAT’S where that thing got off to… ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-object-that-washed-up-on-the-beach/822685/9 "2018-10-09T14:41:48Z")
Definitely not aliens then … ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-object-that-washed-up-on-the-beach/822685/10 "2018-10-09T14:49:26Z")
> [@Blue\_Mood](#): > > Definitely not aliens then … _Dammit_ ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-object-that-washed-up-on-the-beach/822685/11 "2018-10-09T15:05:00Z")
We used to have large blocks of foam from which various cushioning devices were fabricated. These blocks were about 10 feet long and 3 or 4 feet wide. I forget how thick they were, less then the width. There was a large air powered saw to rough cut them. It operated like an electric carving knife or hedge trimmer with two scalloped blades that reciprocated. It sounded like a machine gun when we tried it. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-object-that-washed-up-on-the-beach/822685/12 "2018-10-09T15:38:34Z")
I’d guess it’s some kind of [floating donut fender](https://www.google.com/search?q=Foam+Filled+Floating+Donut+Fender&tbm=isch).