Trainers, flip-flops, and other footwear washing up on the shores of the Azores.
Nobody knew where they were coming from. Or why in such numbers.
Appears there’s a reason for it.
The source of all these shoes is believed to be a single ship.
"Through the research I have done," Mr Ribeiro says, "everything indicates they may have been from some of the 70 to 76 containers that fell overboard from the Maersk Shanghai."
In early spring last year, the Maersk Shanghai - a 324m (1,063ft) vessel capable of carrying more than 10,000 shipping containers - was travelling from Norfolk, Virginia, down the east coast of the US to Charleston, South Carolina.
On the evening of 3 March - 17 miles from the Oregon Inlet, off the coast of North Carolina - it was caught in a storm. While battling high winds and rough seas, a stack of its cargo-laden containers toppled overboard.
More @ Why are Nike trainers washing up on beaches?