The octopus is one of nearly 5m Lego pieces that fell into the sea in 1997 when a storm hit a cargo ship 20 miles off Land’s End, Cornwall. While 352,000 pairs of flippers, 97,500 scuba tanks, and 92,400 swords went overboard, the octopuses are considered the most prized finds as only 4,200 were onboard.
So, if this is in fact from 1997 it would have been on the beach a long time. I myself have beach-combed legos and the ABS is in no way nearly as good condition as this when it’s been out to sea a while.