Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2008/06/17/canadian_foot_mystery/

Stray left foot washes up on Vancouver beach

One of five podiatric landfalls since 2007

By Lester Haines

Posted in Bootnotes, 17th June 2008 13:21 GMT

Canadian police are probing a possible link between a left foot which washed up yesterday on a beach near Vancouver and four right feet which have since last year similarly made landfall on the coast of British Columbia, the BBC reports.

The mysterious spate of seaborne foot landings began last August when two right feet came ashore on small islands north of Vancouver. This was followed by another right foot discovered in February, while May saw the fourth wash up on a suburban Vancouver beach. All four were wearing trainers.

While police say there is "no evidence that the feet were deliberately severed or removed by force", they are treating the latest stray foot mystery as a criminal investigation. Police spokeswoman Sharlene Brooks said: "We are certainly not discounting the possibility that this may be linked to the other recovered feet, but it is just too premature and very speculative for us to even entertain that right now."

The good burghers of Vancouver, on the other hand, are enjoying a podiatric speculationfest, with media and coffee shops "buzzing with theories" as to why the coastline of British Columbia has grown five feet since last year. Organised crime, boating accidents or the 2004 Asian tsunami are among the possibilities on offer, according to the Beeb. ®