# Human Foot Washed Up on Beach: Male or Female? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917 "2008-08-05T14:59:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/41 "2011-08-31T22:47:22Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > That IS weird. Even if these feet were separated naturally from their respective bodies, why would it just be the feet that keep showing up? Why not hands, or heads, for that matter? And why would it be happening so much in that particular area? I’ve never heard of a similar phenomena in any other coastal area. Sure looks like a serial killer’s work to me. The Wikipedia article addresses some of those issues. Feet tend to become preserved (specifically, it says “_human feet have a tendency to become adipocere (a soap-like substance formed from body fat)_”). The fact that some rotted off or were chewed off (rather than being cut off) means that this isn’t a serial killer’s calling card; if a killer is related, he would be just dumping bodies and the feet are an accident of decomposition. Going back to “Why feet?” Unlike other body parts, feet tend to be in shoes and the shoes both float and make it harder for animals to eat the feet. Given what’s in the Wikipedia article, I’m inclined to go with the 2004 Tsunami victim theory, though it sounds like the feet may be from multiple, unrelated events. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/42 "2011-09-01T19:59:32Z")
[CNN.com](http://CNN.com)’s article on the mystery: [http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/01/canadian-floating-feet-mystery-deepens/?iref=NS1](http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/01/canadian-floating-feet-mystery-deepens/?iref=NS1) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/43 "2019-02-14T02:19:58Z")
::[del]Bumped[/del] Kicked:: [#15](https://www.foxnews.com/world/human-foot-washes-on-canadian-beach-15th-overall-since-2007-police-say) was found (in Sept, but they just went public with it yesterday) in Vancouver, BC. > [@](#): > > The foot, which was discovered in September 2018, is the 15th time in just over a decade that a human foot was discovered on the British Columbia shoreline. More than half of those feet were determined to have belonged to people who either died by accident or committed suicide, while the remaining third remain unidentified, according to the B.C. Coroners Service. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > That IS weird. Even if these feet were separated naturally from their respective bodies, why would it just be the feet that keep showing up? Why not hands, or heads, for that matter? And why would it be happening so much in that particular area? I’ve never heard of a similar phenomena in any other coastal area. Sure looks like a serial killer’s work to me. **Answer:** Feet easily disarticulate & > [@The Guardian](#): > > “She pointed to the ubiquitous presence of running shoes to perhaps explain some of the mystery. Made with light but durable materials, the shoes both protect the foot from decomposition and act as a flotation device that pulls it to the surface. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/44 "2019-02-14T04:10:06Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > ::[del]Bumped[/del] Kicked:: > > [#15](https://www.foxnews.com/world/human-foot-washes-on-canadian-beach-15th-overall-since-2007-police-say) was found (in Sept, but they just went public with it Now I’m picturing the police chief holding it up at a press conference. “If you recognize this foot, call our special hotline.” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/45 "2019-02-14T04:27:34Z")
Maybe Walter Sobchak has moved up from toes to feet. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/46 "2019-02-14T05:48:15Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Maybe Walter Sobchak has moved up from toes to feet. Makes me wonder if there was toenail polish. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/47 "2019-02-14T07:36:55Z")
> [@The Guardian](#): > > “She pointed to the ubiquitous presence of running shoes to perhaps explain some of the mystery. Made with light but durable materials, the shoes both protect the foot from decomposition and act as a flotation device that pulls it to the surface. Yes, obviously. I don’t know why it’s such a mystery. It’s not really feet that are washing up, so much as shoes–that still have feet in them. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/48 "2019-02-14T19:13:51Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Yes, obviously. I don’t know why it’s such a mystery. It’s not really feet that are washing up, so much as shoes–that still have feet in them. It’s not really that shoes with feet still in them are washing up - it’s shoes with feet still in them _missing the body they were previously attached to_. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/49 "2019-02-14T19:46:46Z")
[Here is an explanation](https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/12/18/16777724/human-feet-beach-pacific-northwest-seattle-vancouver), from Vox. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/50 "2019-02-14T20:44:01Z")
It looks to me like someone doesn’t have a leg to stand on ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2019, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/51 "2019-02-14T21:07:37Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > It’s not really that shoes with feet still in them are washing up - it’s shoes with feet still in them _missing the body they were previously attached to_. Pish-posh. Tomayto, tomahto. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/52 "2019-02-16T16:46:02Z")
C’mon people. It’s obvious. This is the work of Bermuda triangle Aliens! (I know it’s the wrong coast, but we’re talking about aliens here!) ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2019, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/53 "2019-02-16T16:58:53Z")
Duh, it’s the psycho foot guy from The Sheild… Margos Dezerian:smack::eek:🆒😃 ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/54 "2019-02-17T17:37:06Z")
> [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](#): > > Many women have their toe joints forced inwards from years of wearing high-heeled / pointy shoes; that would be a bit of a giveaway. Good point, but don’t forget men in cowboy boots with similar toes. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/55 "2019-02-17T17:48:14Z")
A while back, in an article about cargo containers that fall off ships in high seas, and the resulting cargo that washes ashore from them, a strange fact turned up. When loads of athletic shoes were thus freed to float away, it was mostly right shoes that washed ashore. The article promised a scientific reason for the dexterous sneakers’ seaworthiness, but alas, I skipped the rest of the piece. If you want to smack me for leading you on, you’ll have to find me first. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/57 "2025-03-10T23:58:25Z")
UPDATE: Genealogical DNA testing has identified one of the feet found in 2008 (in fact, it was the very Foot #6 mentioned in the OP) as belonging to a 17-year-old from British Columbia who disappeared in 2007 and was last seen leaving his house on bicycle at about midnight. > **[Genealogy Identifies Human Foot Found on Beach in 2008](https://www.forensicmag.com/3594-All-News/618141-Genealogy-Identifies-Human-Foot-Found-on-Beach-in-2008/)** > > Detectives from the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene, and forensic experts at the King County Medical Examiner’s Office later determined that the remains consisted of a human foot. Looking at a map, I suppose it’s plausible that he jumped into the Fraser river to end his life, and that the currents subsequently carried his shoe-clad foot into the Salish Sea and down to the American side where it washed up. Tragic case, but at least now his family has closure. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/58 "2025-03-12T22:11:25Z")
If interested in an implausible, conspiracy-theory enabling but generally entertaining mystery novel about lots of severed human feet in identical shoes washing up on a tropical beach, check out [Crooked River](https://www.prestonchild.com/books/crooked-river/Crooked-River;art591,626), which probably was inspired by the Washington state feet cases. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917/59 "2025-03-14T23:17:24Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Six human feet? That’s pretty freaky. > > Apparently, the experts cannot fathom much more than that. I know it’s been 17 years, but I must acknowledge this. Ouch! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-foot-washed-up-on-beach-male-or-female/458917.md?page=2)