WW II mine washes up at Cape Hatteras on NC’s Outer Banks. It’s a big one.

A large mine washed up at Cape Hatteras National Seashore Sunday morning, a bizarre occurrence that is quickly becoming routine on North Carolina’s popular beaches.

The National Park Service posted a photo of the well-rusted mine Wednesday on Facebook, and noted military explosives experts determined it was not in danger of exploding.

It was roughly three and a half feet tall, and found by a ranger on routine beach patrol, National Park officials told the Charlotte Observer.

The mine, which park officials believe was used for training, turned up on the beach south of Salvo, near off-road vehicle ramp 23, the National Park Service said in a release.

Park rangers anchored it in place until a U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from Norfolk, Virginia, could pick it up, said the release.

Discoveries of missiles, mines and bombs are becoming routine on North Carolina’s beaches, which were the scene of training exercises in decades past. In many cases, the discoveries require beaches to be evacuated until experts can clear the danger.

At least four washed up last year on the N.C. coast. The Washington Post reported “two large, rusty and barnacle-encrusted World War II-era munitions” appeared at Cape Hatteras in July 2017. And in September 2017, WITN reported two World War II naval mines came ashore 75 miles apart.

This year, an old live military ordnance was found in September at North Topsail Beach, and in October, the Charlotte Observer reported multiple World War II armor-piercing projectiles were found buried in the sand on Topsail Island.

This story was originally published November 28, 2018 at 2:37 PM with the headline "WW II mine washes up at Cape Hatteras on NC’s Outer Banks. It’s a big one.."