Dozens Of Dildos Have Washed Up On An Italian Beach

A seaside town in Italy was abuzz this week with the shocking news that a bunch of dildos washed up along its coast. The sex toys appeared by the dozens in the sand of a beach around the Hermitage of Camaldoli, near Naples, Italy. It is unclear where exactly the objects came from, but it is possible they were either waste someone disposed of improperly or products that fell off a freight boat at some point and made their way to the beach with help from the ocean's currents.

Volunteers from the Licola Mare Clean Association, a local group that cleans the beach and takes care of the area, discovered the batch of phallic merchandise. One of the volunteers told reporters that many of the workers began howling with laughter when they arrived at the beach and found all of the dildos scattered about like an X-rated Easter egg hunt. According to The Sun, the volunteer said,

That reaction seems reasonable. Who would arrive at the beach and expect to find a big batch of plastic penises hiding in the sand? Nevertheless, there could be a partial explanation. Umberto Mercurio, the president of the Licola Mare Clean Association, said the channel flows there and the currents bring tons of garbage. Therefore, a lot of trash pollution ends up on the beach, and for that reason, the Association visits the spot regularly and tries to clean up the debris.

Reportedly, the people in the region are rather used to the sight of trash washing up at this point, and as unexpected as the scene was, it was not completely outside the norm. In fact, there are reports of people finding things as strange as containers of animal feed and industrial waste. Dead animals sometimes wash up on the beach, and once people even found live rabbits. Still, nothing could prepare them for a load of sex toys.

The officials in the town deemed the situation too mature for children to witness, so they banned kids from playing on the beach indefinitely. But from the sounds of it, the beach is not the safest place for kids to play anyway, especially if dangerous things like industrial waste and dead animals are washing up onshore on a regular basis.

There is no word whether the adult products were vibrators with batteries included. It sounds like a ridiculous thing to mention but could be a concern, as the improper disposal of batteries has harmful effects on the environment. Substances like cadmium and lead can travel through water and harm plants, sea animals, and eventually people. So, this story is amusing but might also shine a light on the need for responsible disposal of electronics; and in that sense, the impact of the dildos could run deep.