Four severed sneaker-clad right feet have washed up in British Columbia just this year, and Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer is on the case. He’s an expert in marine debris, most famous for his work with the wandering rubber duckies. But Dr. Ebbesmeyer also knows how bodies come apart! Is the mild mannered scientist really just a cover for the crime fighter within?
Curtis Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer based in Seattle, Wash., said when a human body submerged in the ocean, the main parts like arms, legs, hands, feet and the head are usually what come off the body.
But he’s still baffled by how the exact same part — a right foot — could wash up repeatedly.
“It’s not unusual for body parts to wash up along the United States or Canada,” he said. “There’s so many accidents, like boating. That’s not unusual. It is unusual to find four bodies over the course of the year and just right feet.”
He said his theory is that the feet came along as a result of an accident that might have happened up along the Fraser River, that washed down and spread out along the Straight of Georgia.
Ebbesmeyer said he would urge the police to trace the shoes back to the store they were purchased.
“There’s a lot you can do with the serial number of a shoe and I’m assuming the RCMP are doing that,” he said.
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June 3, 2008 at 4:30 pm |
I’m confused….how do hands and feet “come off the body” when submerged? How old are these body parts? are they devoid of all flesh and sinew?
June 4, 2008 at 8:55 am |
I just figured that the force of the currents ripped them off once the body had rotted a bit.
June 4, 2008 at 9:00 pm |
Lobsters!