Explanations
So what’s going on here then? Finding a foot wash up every now and again you can put down to chance. But a whole bunch of feet and no other body parts in the same sort of geographical area, now that’s a bit odd to say the least.
A boating accident where bodies were never found has been cited as the cause, but that was just four people (and no females or children). Some have wondered whether an aircraft accident could be the culprit but no incidents seem to fit the bill. Foul play is of course another theory, maybe the bodies were weighted down and as the flesh rotted the feet were finally released to bob to the surface thanks to the foam in the soles of their shoes.
Feet are particularly difficult to identify apparently, especially once they’ve been submerged for so long; also ocean currents can push stuff around the sea for up to 1,000 miles so tracing the origin is trickier still.
In optimal conditions a human body can remain intact for as much as 30 years which I thought was pretty impressive (and dark). So these feet could potentially be decades old.
Another theory points the finger to victims of the Asian Tsunami in 2004 as most of the shoes were made in 2004 or earlier. But proving this would be pretty much impossible.
One pair of feet were eventually traced back to a woman who committed suicide by jumping off Pattullo Bridge in New Westminster (below) in 2004 but there’s no evidence that other feet belonged to jumpers. People who commit suicide in the vicinity normally have someone looking for them and a record of their demise.
Experts that know a lot about how bodies decompose have said that it’s not too uncommon for feet and hands to break off from bodies and to float to the surface. But the experts are also pretty flummoxed as to why it’s only the feet that are cropping up in this specific area.
So… no answers, only questions. Like I said, the occasional foot here or there across the world isn’t so strange, but a constant stream of just feet in a single area is pretty nuts.
Any thoughts?
