Background

Since 2007 sixteen feet have washed up along the Pacific shore of North America, predominantly around Vancouver in the area known as the Salish Sea. The sudden appearance of feet along a small section of coastline baffled experts and concerned citizens alike. Some wild theories were immediately abundant, “speculation range[d] from natural disasters, such as the tsunami of 2004, to the work of drug dealers, serial killers and human traffickers” (The Guardian 2016). However upon further investigation it has been determined that all of the feet that could be identified and even those that haven’t were most likely the result of suicides or drowning rather than foul play, in some cases they were merely insensitive hoaxes. Tidal currents, mental illness, the buoyancy of sneakers and the natural decomposition of the human body at sea all contribute to the grisly discoveries along the shores of the Pacific Northwest.