Was it the Supermoon? 100 unexploded WWII bombs wash up on beach
It's been 70 years, but almost 100 Second World War bombs washed up on a Southampton beach thanks to the Supermoon.
A navy bomb disposal team detonated them after abnormal tides caused by the unusually close proximity of the moon washed them on to Calshot beach.
The expert, who warned that more of the still potentially deadly mortar bombs might wash up, were initially called in when six were revealed after a low tide.
After imposing a 600 yard exclusion zone and detonating them, they were surprised to find another 87 appear.
They spent yesterday wiring up the bombs in groups of ten with explosives, waiting until the tide came back in to detonate them.
'We blow them up when they are covered with water because it absorbs a lot of the shock,' said explosives expert Lieutenant Commander Al Nekrews, who added that it was 'unprecedented' to find so many unexploded bombs.
A Navy spokesman said the bombs were English but it was not known whether they had been fired from land or from a ship.
The Moon is the closest it has been to Earth since 1993, making it a 'Supermoon', which increases its gravitational effect on the tides.
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