Since 2007, Over 20 Severed Feet Have Washed Ashore From The Salish Sea, Sparking Theories Of Hauntings And Brutal Murders
Whenever you visit the beach in the summertime, you probably expect to sit back, relax, and bask in the warm sun, watching the waves roll in. Beaches have a soothing ambiance that might even lull you to sleep.
You might even go hunting for seashells in the sand to take home as souvenirs of your time there. However, there are certain beaches that don’t exactly fit this image.
Instead of finding shells in the sand of the beaches surrounding the Salish Sea near Vancouver and Seattle, people have come across much more gruesome items: decomposed human feet. Since 2007, more than 20 severed feet have washed up on the shores. But where did these Salish Sea feet come from?
For years, the strange phenomenon remained a mystery to the locals in the area. Theories about eerie hauntings and brutal murders surfaced as people strived to find answers.
After researchers had conducted a series of investigations into the case of the severed feet, they finally came up with an explanation as to how the feet were washed ashore.
The first foot was found by a 12-year-old girl who was strolling along a beach on Jedediah Island in British Columbia in 2007. At first, she thought it was just a blue and white size 12 running shoe that had belonged to a man.
But when she looked closer, she realized there was a human foot in the shoe. Soon after her discovery, more feet started appearing in the area.
A week later, a second foot made it to the nearby Gabriola Island. It was another right foot, and it was in a different shoe, meaning that it was from a different individual. Since then, more than 20 different feet have been discovered around the Salish Sea. Most of them were wearing tennis shoes, but there were also some with hiking boots.
To figure out where the feet were coming from, researchers studied the tides of the Salish Sea and how dead bodies behave underwater, experimenting with pig carcasses.
Kristina – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
Usually, dead bodies will sink down to the sea floor, where they will be immediately devoured by marine creatures.
As a result, feet will quickly become separated from the rest of the body. Furthermore, the Salish Sea tends to push the feet to shore.
“Things that float at the ocean surface move with the currents but also are pushed a bit by the wind, and this can be significant in getting them to shore,” Parker MacCready, an oceanography professor from the University of Washington, explained.
“The prevailing winds here are west to east, and so floating stuff in this part of the Pacific gets blown to the coast effectively.”
Additionally, tennis shoes contributed to why the feet washed ashore in the first place. Tennis shoes are more likely to float, which makes severed feet more likely to wash up. Altogether, it seems that the mystery of the Salish Sea feet has a perfectly logical explanation.
“Feet easily disarticulate, and when they are attached to a flotation device such as a running shoe, they are easily washed ashore,” said Gail Anderson, a forensic scientist from Simon Fraser University.
“Notice there are no feet washing ashore in stiletto heels or flip-flops. Also, today’s running shoes are much more buoyant than in the past.”
Investigators also tested the DNA of the feet to determine the identities of the people they belonged to. The tests revealed that most of the feet were from individuals who had been reported missing.
The missing people had either died from accidents or by taking their own lives. No signs of foul play were detected in any of the cases. Overall, the solution to the Salish Sea feet mystery is really quite simple, as well as sad.
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