Mystery solved: why has a beach in France been blighted by washed-up parts for toy Garfield phones for more than 30 years?

For more than thirty years, the beaches of France's Iroise Marine Nature Park have been blighted by a seemingly endless stream of a highly specific form of washed-up plastic waste: part of a toy Garfield telephone -- more than 200 pieces in all.

Finally, the mystery of the origins of this weird flotsam has been revealed: a cargo container of Garfield phone parts that fell off a container ship decades ago had been lodged in a nearby cliff-cave and it had been dribbling out bright orange pieces of plastic ever since.

On Friday, five members of Ar Viltansoù and two journalists from Franceinfo have finally been able to visit the cave. 'I saw garfield and container pieces all over the cave. But the bulk of the phones are already gone, the sea has done its job for thirty years. We arrive after the battle, 'says Simonin-Le Meur in Ouest-France.

L’affaire des échouages de téléphones Garfield en Bretagne enfin résolue [Le Monde] (Google Translate)

(Thanks, Jason!)