No "Bluffing" - WWII Artillery Shell Found on Washington Beach

Port Townsend, Washington Port Townsend Police and U.S. Navy EOD responded to a Strait of Juan de Fuca beach west of Port Townsend when a suspect military munition was found.

Police secured the site and called on EOD who determined that the rusty ordnance was unfuzed and inert. The 70-pound artillery shell, likely WWII-era, was removed for proper disposal.

Officials believe the shell may have originated from the the bluff above the beach where it was found. The bluff is home to the former U.S. Army Coast Artillery "Tibbals Hill Base End Station" which opened in 1941 to serve as an observation platform for a Fort Worden gun battery.

The former observation post, known as Land's End Park or the "End of the World" viewpoint, has been closed to the public since 2013 when major sections of the bluff collapsed to the beach.