A full scale search of the South Shore for unexploded bombs and other mystery objects may not be necessary.

Bermuda Maritime Museum director Ed Harris said it was unlikely there were further unused munitions, exposed by Hurricane Gert, lining the shore.

Speaking after a mortar was found on Horseshoe Bay, a flare nearby and a harmless beach fitting discovered at John Smith's Bay, Dr. Harris said he believed further finds were doubtful.

Dr. Harris said any ordnance in the South Shore area, left over from military exercises, would likely be further out to sea. And if it was exposed, could well have been sucked away from the shore by the storm.

In addition, he said the chances of stray explosives breaking loose from the wreck of the Pollockshields were minimal.

"Warwick Camp was the main training ground from 1860 and it is possible more things may turn up. But if they were firing artillery, it would have been further out to sea,'' he said.

"It would take an awful lot to break up something from the Pollockshields , which has almost become a reef. And it would have been done by now.'' Police have been considering whether a full scale search of the area is necessary after the incidents in the aftermath of Hurricane Gert.

Massive amounts of sand were eroded from the coastline and there were concerns that relics, harmless or not, may have been exposed.

Although the mortar found at Horseshoe Bay last Friday was blown up in a controlled explosion, Dr. Harris said he believed future finds may have historical value.

He said it could be possible for the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team to make devices safe without destroying them, giving museum staff a chance to evaluate them.

Finds from previous shipwrecks being washed up or discovered in the aftermath of Gert were also unlikely, he said.

Artifacts from ships which sank up to 200 years ago were likely to be very well buried under the seabed, and gunpowder was liable to have gone off after years under the water.

MUSEUM MUS