Castaway feet washing ashore

A human foot, still inside a New Balance sports shoe washed ashore in Seattle this week — and if that wasn’t mystery enough, it’s the fifteenth foot that’s washed ashore along the Pacific Northwest coast since 2007.

Yes, 15 human feet have washed ashore along the Pacific Northwest coast – from Canada down to Tacoma – over the last seven years.

And no one seems to know where they’re coming from.

A forensic anthropologist with the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, where the foot is being examined says the foot likely wasn’t severed, but rather detached from the body as it decomposed at sea.

“The bones fall apart. They – feet in shoes that have washed ashore – are not being severed. They’re not being purposely cut off. Tennis shoes not only protect the feet but they’re also buoyant, and so they either float on the surface, or they’re in the high part of the water column, so they will float in with the tide,” the forensic anthropologist said.

The Medical Examiner’s Office has released a picture of the tennis shoe in which the foot was found in an attempt to identify the person who wore the shoes.

The model of shoe was first available for purchase in April of 2008.

There is no word on whether authorities have made any effort to link this foot to the other 14 that have washed ashore since 2007.

So where are these feet coming from?

A local expert on tides told local media the feet could possibly be local – or they could be winding up washed ashore in North America from the Pacific by way of the Strait of Georgia in Canada or the Strait of Juan de Fuca that connects the Puget Sound near Seattle to the Pacific Ocean.