Locals baffled by mysterious ‘wax’ on beaches

MYSTERIOUS One of the large chunks of wax washed up on Mulranny beach.Pic: Michael McLaughlin

Anton McNulty

THE Atlantic storms have washed up many strange objects onto Mayo beaches over the years, but the latest deposits to wash up on beaches around Mulranny have locals mystified.
The recent storms that battered the west earlier this month washed up large chunks of wax-like substance, some weighing nearly 20kg, onto the beaches around Mulranny. It was initially thought to be beeswax, but that theory seems to have been ruled out, with some believing it to be a petroleum type material.
Mulranny-based artist Cheryl Cobern Browne told The Mayo News that she found lumps of the strange substance on the beach in Mulranny on November 15, and she explained that more have been found around Currane and near Achill Sound.
“By looking at it, [it’s shaped] like a lava flow from a volcano which has gone hard. It looks like beeswax – it has a honey colour – but I don’t think it is. I sawed some of it off and melted it down, and it seems to be some sort of petroleum product … I think it might be palm oil. I tried to light it but it would not light; it just melted. It is a mystery as to what it is, where it came from and why it has washed up on the west coast of Ireland,” she said.

Other occurences
Since discovering the strange material, Cheryl started googling and discovered that a similar type substance washed up on beaches along the East Sussex coast in southern England in November 2013. According to media reports at the time, it was not known where the wax-like material came from, but it was proven to be non-hazardous.
There were also reports of ‘mystery wax clumps’ washed up on northern German beaches in 2014. Authorities in Germany involved in the clean-up believed that the material was paraffin used to make cosmetics and candles, transported in liquid form in tanker ships. That material becomes solid matter when it hits the water. The German authorities could not pinpoint where the material came from, however.
Cheryl explained that she contacted Clean Coasts, which is an An Taisce agency responsible for the promotion of coastal protection, and it was investigating the matter. In the meantime, she said she would do more experimenting with the wax, joking that it might be useful for her artwork.

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