Jessica Benton
Bomb experts swooped on a World War Two mine at Ocean Grove’s surf beach yesterday.
Bellarine Police leading Senior Constable Richard Keogh said the mine was discovered at the beach on Wednesday, sparking safety fears.
Police cordoned off an area of foreshore around the mine for two hours.
“It washed up near the new sea wall where a lot of bank has been eroded because of the king tide,” Snr Const Keogh said.
“These sorts of things occasionally turn up because they were decommissioned years ago.
“This one looked like it could have been used for different purposes because it was filled with broken bottles and glass. Maybe it was used as a bin.”
Snr Const Keogh said the appearance of the mine had sparked initial concern until closer inspection revealed that it was “non-threatening”.
“We could see the mine was hollow,” he said.
“We had contact with the army and sent them photos of the mine. They were happy for us to open up the area again but will still come down to examine it.”
Snr Const Keogh said military services had yet to work out where the mine came from or its intended use during the war.
An armed services spokesperson had not returned the Independent’s call for comment when the paper went to press yesterday.
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