This was found on Sable Island, on the north beach, in March 2002. The barrel is 90 cm long with a diameter of 55 cm. It has a heavy iron `keel', 2 cm thick, and the stump of a `mast' is fixed in the opposite side of the barrel. This was likely used as a `highflier buoy' to mark the location of a string of nets or a longline set. The mast would have been much longer and topped with a metal radar detector to warn passing ships of the location of the fishing gear. The keel suggests that it is of recent date as does the condition of the barrel head and hoops.
Thanks to Ralph Getson (Curator of Education, Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia) for information about this beached object.