What weird stuff was found on NJ beaches last year?

What do a parking meter, a hearing aid, a badminton racket, a light-up snowman and a stun gun have in common?

All were among the trash plucked off the beaches of New Jersey in 2014, according to Clean Ocean Action, an environmental group that collects and catalogs the waste that accumulates on the shoreline.

More than 315,000 pieces of debris were pulled off New Jersey beaches last year, according to a report the group released Monday during a news conference overlooking the beach on Sandy Hook.

The event also doubled as a kickoff for the anti-pollution group's 30th Annual Spring Beach Sweep, which will be held, rain or shine, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on April 25. A complete list of locations and how to register can be found at cleanoceanaction.org.

In 2014, volunteers happened upon bizarre junk — "Dracula" teeth, a ski pole, wigs — while scouring 127 miles of coastline, but there was an abundance of far more familiar litter.

There were 2,900 foam cups, 3,875 plastic utensils and 4,467 glass bottles. The most prevalent piece of trash for the second year in a row was unidentifiable plastic.

The 7,000 volunteers who policed the beaches during semi-annual sweeps in April and October gathered up 40,880 such miscellaneous pieces last year.

The presence of plastic debris is of special concern, said COA's marine science education coordinator Catie Tobin. What kind of threat microplastics represent to marine life is a focal point of the group's ongoing research, she added.

"Plastics in the marine environment never really truly go away," Tobin said. "Instead it breaks down into smaller bits because of wave action and sunlight."

Superstorm Sandy continued to skew the numbers, although the effects of the storm were far less apparent in 2014 than 2013. More than double the amount of lumber was recovered off of New Jersey beaches in 2013, evidence of the homes and shops sucked into the ocean by the retreating storm surge.

There were 9,235 pieces of lumber taken off the state's beaches last year, significantly lower than 2013, but still 38 percent more than what was collected before the storm in 2012.

"We for sure still see things from people's homes, backyards," said Lisa Cordova, a volunteer from Middletown who leads the Ideal Beach sweep. "Anything and everything that was destroyed is still washing up on our beach."

This marks the 30th year that COA has organized beach sweeps. Executive Director Cindy Zipf said the cleanups have snatched up millions of pieces of refuse over the years.

Volunteer Mike Bruno of Interlaken who helped organize the very first beach cleanup in Sandy Hook in 1985, said the beaches have come a long way since he was wary about walking along the sand barefoot or wading in the polluted water.

"Now I no longer have to ask myself, 'To swim or not to swim'?" Bruno said.

Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748, razimmer@app.com

The 2014 "Dirty Dozen"

The most prevalent kinds of garbage found during Clean Ocean Action's semi annual beach sweeps last year.

Plastic pieces: 40,880 (3.5 percent more than 2013)

Cigarette filters: 30,241 (6.4 percent fewer)

Plastic caps and lids: 29,804 (8.7 percent fewer)

Food, candy wrappers/bags: 27,381 (11.5 percent fewer)

Straws/stirrers: 18,372 (1.2 percent more)

Foam pieces: 13,050 (16.8 percent fewer)

Glass pieces: 12,703 (66 percent more)

Plastic beverage/soda bottles: 11,775 (18.1 percent more)

Lumber pieces: 9,235 (33 percent fewer)

Plastic shopping bags: 8,037 (4 percent fewer)

Cigar tips: 6,366 (31.5 percent more)

Paper pieces: 5,560 (20.4 percent more)

Source: Clean Ocean Action