The delightful dolly above is one of many unusual items found on a Texas beach that will be auctioned off this weekend to benefit the Amos Rehabilitation Institute, a conservation organization that protects sea turtles, birds, and other wildlife. Organized by the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve, the auction will also feature such hot items as a sand-worn fiberglass mermaid, barnacle-encrusted bible (below), magic spell bottle, and old prosthetic leg. From Chron:
Researchers with Mission-Aransas have collected the odd objects over the past year while conducting weekly surveys along the coastline as they searched for stranded sea turtles on Mustang Island. "When we find interesting items during the survey, we bring them back and pile them up for selling in the annual auction to help raise money for the sea turtles," said Jace Tunnell, director of the Mission-Aransas Reserve. Tunnell spotlights the weird discoveries in photos and in a weekly vlog series titled Beach Combing.
This year, beachcombers have also encountered a message in a bottle that traveled all the way from the Jamaica, steamship coal from the 1800s, an old bible in a barnacle encrusted case, a Chinese beer, and a fiberglass mermaid.
