Thousands of bananas wash up on Dutch North Sea islands

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Thousands of bananas washed up on two Dutch North Sea islands on Wednesday after at least six containers fell off a cargo ship in a storm and one burst open, a local official said.

"I think everybody on the island has a bunch now," said Gossen Buren, a shipping official at the local lighthouse.

A half-mile stretch of beach on Terschelling island, 70 miles north of Amsterdam, was littered with bunches of unripe fruit, Buren said. Bananas also washed up on neighboring Ameland island.

Terschelling residents are no strangers to stuff turning up on their beach; a year ago thousands of tennis shoes, aluminum briefcases and children's toys washed ashore, drawing crowds of treasure-hunting residents. Some 20 years ago it was a load of sweaters.

Plenty of beachcombers came early Wednesday for a look, said Buren, "but not as many as when we had the sneakers."

Buren said he hadn't tasted any of the bananas to see if they were salty. "It still looks pretty green," he said.

It wasn't immediately clear what would happen to the bananas. Buren said some locals had suggested sending them to nearby zoos.