A young reader from West Cork has contacted Afloat.ie to appeal for information about a coconut he discovered washed up on a local beach. Michael Kearney (14) writes:

Recently I got very excited when I found a coconut washed up on Owenahincha Beach (in Rosscarbery, West Cork) on a Scouts trip…

It weighs 2.5kg, it is 23 centimetres long and about 17 centimetres wide at its widest point. I found a 4/5 millimetre goose barnacle in one of the coconuts holes (the hole is caved in).

[The coconut] is very hairy and it smells like the sea —salty with a tiny hint of rot. I found it in the big belt of seaweed and washed-up things that have been left by the tide.

I was hoping you could suggest where it may have come from, or whether coconuts are washed up on Irish beaches often.

It’s possible Michael’s coconut find coukd be flotsam or jetsam from a passing vessel. It might possibly even be a so-called ‘drift seed’ from distant tropical waters.

If any Afloat.ie readers can help shed light on the mystery, have your say in the comments below. You can also share your thoughts on the Afloat Magazine Facebook page.

The washed-up coconut, which appears to have been at sea for some time, weighs a little over 2.5kg | Credit: Michael Kearney