Dozens of Creepy Dolls Keep Washing Up on Texas Beaches

For two years, the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve team has been visiting Gulf Coast shorelines in Texas.

And so have the dolls.

According to United Press International, the team has encountered a steady supply of dolls washing ashore. They arrive water-damaged, their torn clothes and missing eyes making for a chilling atmosphere. Jace Tunnell, director of the program based at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, estimates about 30 dolls have been found. The team has been posting them on Facebook, which is proving to be a popular source of amusement. (As well as abject terror.)

Not all the dolls have been intended for juvenile amusement. “The first one we had found was a sex doll, the head of it,” Tunnell told UPI. “I posted a picture of it and I didn't realize that's what it was. We got a lot of followers on the page after that.”

A doll is pictured — This is why people get into science. | Courtesy of Jace Tunnell

The dolls aren’t the point of the visits to the 40-mile stretch of the coast. The reserve is surveying the area for sea turtles and endangered bird species. But the dolls keep surfacing.

The dolls are usually sold to the public, with proceeds going to the reserve or to animal rescue operations.

The question is—where do they come from? A current looping the Gulf of Mexico pushes debris ashore, but it’s not known how the dolls got there in the first place. Maybe it’s better that way.