Bell Island fishermen went out for lobster, but caught an 'apparent' artillery shell
When Tara Saunders' husband went out to check his lobster pots on Saturday afternoon, she didn't expect he would also bring home an apparent military artillery shell.
She couldn't believe it when her husband, Stewart Saunders, called to tell her he jumped in the water to pick up the object, and then he and his skipper Randell Clarke put the object in their boat and brought it home.
"I said, what? You got to be kidding me," Saunders told CBC News.
When she saw the object, "I immediately just stood back and I thought, 'Oh my goodness me, this thing is absolutely massive.'"
Saunders says her husband and son were picking up the object when she made the call to police. The Bell Island RCMP told them to immediately vacate the premises, and within five minutes, officers had arrived.
In a statement, police described the object as "an apparent military artillery shell."
Police transported it to the local airstrip safely, moving it far from residential areas. The RCMP sent out a notice to the public that evening warning them to avoid the Bell Island airstrip until further notice.
The release states that the object "will be continuously monitored until experts can properly dispose of it."
RCMP say they believe there is no risk to public safety at this time, but are proceeding with an abundance of caution.
Saunders says police told her the object was from World War II and weighed approximately 30 pounds.
During the war, Bell Island was the target of Nazi U-boats aiming to disrupt iron ore exports. In 1942, the attacks resulted in the sinking of four ships and the deaths of 70 men.
Clarke has been a fisherman on Bell Island for over 60 years, and this is the first time he has ever seen a missile in the ocean, says Saunders.
Saunders said the response from police was incredible.
"To see these officers, the way they handled this missile or whatever the actual term of it is, with such caution and precision," she said.
In retrospect, Saunders says her husband and Clarke are very lucky they weren't harmed.
"For the amount of handling and the bumping of the road it did and coming in off the boat with it … I keep telling my husband and Randell that they're like cats with nine lives and they have two used up."
Saunders says she hopes her husband won't pull a missile out of the ocean again.
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