Caithness dog-walker tells of concerns after finding biological specimen bags on coast
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Three biological specimen bags have been washed ashore on the east coast of Caithness – and the man who found them is worried that more could turn up.
Nigel Eustace believes the semi-transparent packages – each containing an unidentified liquid – could constitute a "biohazard" and says he has contacted Highland Council and other authorities.
The 63-year-old discovered the bags while walking near his home at Keiss. He spotted the first two packages on the shore near Keiss Castle on Sunday afternoon and the third on the shingle beach at Stain, south of the village, on Tuesday morning.
Mr Eustace is a keen bird-watcher who walks up to six miles each day with his dog Max.
The unopened bags have individual reference numbers and barcodes which, according to Mr Eustace, make them "obviously traceable".
Each package has a graphic stating "UN3373" above the words "biological substance, category B" in three languages.
Internet checks indicate that specimens marked UN3373 are "human or animal materials" being transported for diagnosis or investigation.
The bottles inside the bags are about a half-litre or a third of a litre in size. Two contain an orange/red liquid and are about two-thirds full, while the other has a dark substance and appears to be full to the brim.
“One label inside has completely perished, so that means the seawater has got into it. They are all actually degraded inside,” said Mr Eustace, an ex-RAF corporal who also held a number of UK government posts.
Originally from Gloucestershire, he is now retired and has been living in Keiss for six years.
The two packages he found near Keiss Castle at the weekend were within about 20 yards of each other.
“They were almost level with the high-tide mark. We’ve had strong winds for the last couple of weeks," he said.
“If there’s obvious rubbish there I’ll pick up the rubbish anyway. When I saw it was dangerous goods I took some photos and decided that it wasn’t safe to leave them anywhere so I picked them up.
"I didn’t touch them – I put them in a plastic bag that I carry. I brought them back, looked online to see what the UN numbers stood for and if I could trace what they were. I found out they were category B biological hazard and then tried to find out who I could contact to inform.”
He says he alerted Highland Council, NHS Scotland and the Aberdeen office of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
"I’m keeping hold of them because obviously you don’t want to chuck them in the waste or whatever," Mr Eustace said.
“Three people are waiting for the results of their tests, if they are human tests – or it could be livestock tests. It could be anything.
“But it’s not Covid, because Covid would be small swabs. This is nearly half a litre or a third of a litre of a liquid.
“A container ship lost a container over the winter and there were medical supplies in there. But you wouldn’t send stuff going to a laboratory for testing on a container ship."
Mr Eustace has taken care to use gloves when handling the packages and to store them in additional plastic bags.
He is concerned that children or pets could have come across the bags and believes others may emerge. Two of the reference numbers are consecutive, ending with the digits 511 and 512, whereas the other package ends with 517.
“The two I found on Sunday were north of the one I found on Tuesday, so depending on the tide I would imagine there probably are others,” he said.
“Obviously I wouldn’t open them up or anything because you just don’t know whether there are dangerous toxic fumes or whatever, or a biohazard."
Mr Eustace put messages on a Facebook group and on Twitter to help make people aware of the issue.
He added: “We’ve got a lot of swimmers who swim in the bay here, and also there are now holidaymakers. It is concerning and I’d be interested to know what the outcome is.”
Highland Council, NHS Highland and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency have been invited to comment.
