Everything from rare dead animals to human feet still in their shoes has washed up on beaches across the world, but cursed dolls have been Texas’s flavor of flotus for the past two years. Researchers from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute have been unearthing dozens of dolls throughout the 64-kilometer (40-mile) length of coastline that makes up the Mission-Aransas Reserve. In a beachcombing video posted to the Mission-Aransas Reserve Facebook page, a team member says, “Oh boy, a freaky doll.” “I’m sure a handful of you weirdos out there will enjoy this Gooseneck barnacles emerging from the eye, perhaps we’ll sell this one on the internet.”
We were stumped as to who would want a zombie beach baby, but it turns out there is a market for crusty dolls. The swaths of dolls rescued from the reserve are held in a bucket until being auctioned at an annual fundraiser auction, according to Southern Living. “The ones that have lost all their hair are the creepiest,” Jace Tunnell, director of the Mission Aransas Reserve, told McClatchy News. “We’re performing scientific research, but the dolls are a bonus.”
The cast of castaways is a colorful tapestry – from barnacle-eyed to bald, and one who was actually the head of a sex doll (which sold for $35). But whence do they originate? The strange case of the ocean-dwelling dolls takes advantage of the region’s distinct currents, which make the beaches in the Texas Coastal Bend a true garbage magnet. According to studies conducted by United Press International, the beaches here receive ten times the quantity of marine rubbish received by the coasts of Florida and Mississippi.
The funnel effect is caused by a “loop current,” which causes eddies that drive trash towards the reserve’s beach, according to Tunnell. The dolls, on the other hand, appear to prefer landing between Padre Island and Matagorda Island. While plastic is harmful to our seas, it is swiftly consumed by a variety of marine species after it is dumped in the water. Visitors to the reserve’s doll heads often have barnacle eyes, while some have a wolverine-like layer of fuzzy algae.
When a ship lost a cargo of 28,800 rubber ducks in the Pacific in 1992, one of the greatest studies into worldwide ocean currents was launched after a storm put in motion one of the largest investigations into global ocean currents. The toys have been found washed up on beaches all around the world, illustrating the durability of hard plastic even in a severe environment like the open ocean. An army of rubber ducks, on the other hand, is less unsettling than an undetermined number of bald, barnacley dolls. So, who’s making a horror film on Mission-Aransas’ Drifting Dolls Heads?
