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Why rubber blocks keep appearing on Europe's beaches

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By Matt Cantor

Newser

A woman takes a photograph on her phone of the view from a beach in Portsmouth, England, on Oct. 31, 2014.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

From Britain to Spain to Denmark, rubbery blocks have recently washed up on beaches, all bearing the same word: Tjipetir. It's still not certain where each block comes from, but a woman who found one while walking her dog in England has a pretty good idea, the BBC reports.

After Tracey Williams posted on a Facebook page about her investigation into the matter, two individuals who haven't been publicly identified told her about a Japanese ship sunk 150 miles west of Britain's Scilly Isles during World War I.

The Miyazaki Maru carried the blocks, and it has recently been subject to salvage work, resulting in their release, the sources explained. The blocks have their origins in Indonesia, where they get their name from a 19th- and 20th-century rubber plantation in West Java.

The rubber-like stufflikely a tree gum called gutta-perchawas once used for such diverse purposes as insulating cables and making golf balls. Williams' theory is supported by a British official in charge of the country's wreck lawsthe Receiver of Wreck, as she's known.

But "many ships would have been carrying gutta-percha, so it's possible that the cargo is coming from more than one source," Williams notes. One of those sources could be the Titanic, which listed such blocks among its cargo, the Daily Mail reports.

Interesting pieces of history, but not so appealing to conservationists: "The thing we find most worrying is that this is biodegradable rubber and here it is, 100 years later, in near-perfect condition," says one.

(In other weird beach finds, a two-headed dolphin recently washed ashore.)

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Why rubber blocks keep appearing on Europe's beaches

Silverado burn area sees voluntary evacuations; flooding possible at beaches

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SILVERADO, Calif. (KABC) --

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A voluntary evacuation for the burn area was ordered at 8 a.m. Tuesday and affects all homes east of 30311 Silverado Canyon Rd., where the Silverado Fire scorched approximately 1,000 acres in September. There's not enough vegetation on the steep hillsides to hold back water.

Sandbags for canyon residents are available at the Orange County Fire Authority's Station 14, 29402 Silverado Canyon Road, as well as at an Orange County Public Works' Maintenance Yard, 20811 El Toro Road in Lake Forest.

The Red Cross opened a shelter at El Modena High School at 3920 East Spring Street in the city of Orange.

Hay bales and K-rails are in place to prevent mud flows and property damage, and heavy equipment is on scene ready to move debris.

A steady downpour was falling over Silverado Canyon burn area since around 7 a.m. Nearly an inch of rain had fallen by about 7 p.m.

Emergency crews are on standby and many residents say they're braced and ready.

"My wife has already evacuated with pets. So when mandatory comes in, I'm out of here," said area resident Ron Shepston.

Shepston lives at the base of a steep, narrow and sloping road. He and his neighbors have been scurrying to prepare for the worst.

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Silverado burn area sees voluntary evacuations; flooding possible at beaches

Pokemon Omega Ruby Nuzlocke | #9 | Raiding the Beaches of Slateport – Video

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Pokemon Omega Ruby Nuzlocke | #9 | Raiding the Beaches of Slateport
Outro Song: Challenger!! by Rica Matsumoto, 7th Japanese Opening of the Pokemon Anime ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subscribe: http://ti...

By: Joedor

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Pokemon Omega Ruby Nuzlocke | #9 | Raiding the Beaches of Slateport - Video


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