Beached shrimp in Chile: The strangest objects washed ashore

The bizarre sight of millions of dead shrimp washed up on the coast of Santiago has baffled Chileans and marine experts alike.

Environmental officials are investigating after huge swathes of the tiny red sea creatures washed up on a beach in Coronel, 330 miles south of Chile's capital, Santiago.

Prosecutors say the bizarre incident could've been an environmental crime, and local fishermen say regional power firms for overheating the waters, endangering the lives of marine wildlife.

The unusual sight is far from the first time bizarre objects have washed up on the world's coastlines, however.

Only last month, a stretch of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, was blanketed by a huge wave of sea foam.

The 3m-high foam had been swept ashore by the remnants of a tropical cyclone which struck Australia the week before.

Wave after wave of suds swept across Alexandra Headland in the aftermath of Australian tropical cyclone Oswald.

And last October, marine experts were again puzzled when a giant eyeball washed up on Pompano Beach in Florida.

Officials were initially puzzled as to the origin of the eyeball, and the internet was instantly awash with rumours of creatures of the deep.

However, after extensive investigations, researchers claimed the grapefruit-sized eyeball probably belonged to a 10ft-long swordfish.

The sight of a whale washing ashore is not particularly unusual, but there was shock in December when an ailing, endangered finback whale washed up at Breezy Point in Queens, New York City.

One of the biggest draws for tourists on the Pacific Coast highway in Newport, Oregon, was, bizarrely, a huge concrete dock which washed ashore last summer.

Remarkably, the giant piece of debris found its way to the U.S. coast from Japan after the devastating March 2011 tsunami.

The 66ft-long, 132 ton concrete and steel structure washed ashore at Oregon's Agate Beach near Newport on June 5, 2012 and became an instant tourist attraction.

It was dismantled and removed the next month after officials deemed it an environmental hazard.