Creepy dolls washing ashore in Texas are being used to help birds and sea turtles

In an ideal world, the oceans would not be filled with human waste. But if the trash continues to be dumped in Texas, conservationists will put it to good use.

Mission-Aransas Reserve at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute takes the best and most interesting findings from the bi-weekly beach survey and puts it up for auction.

There are various buoys, nets and buoys that you will find in the sea. But there are some other strange items – including fiberglass mermaids, and a collection of terrifying, barnacle encrusted, internet-famous dolls.

“When you see something that looks like a baby on the edge of the water, you know, your heart stops. Then you go up and look and you’re like, oh man, this is scary,” Jace Tunnell, the director of the marine reserve, told As it happens hosted by Nil Koksal.

“I woke up in the middle of the night.”

Where did it come from?

The team from the marine reserve surveys about 65 kilometers of the Gulf Coast beach twice a week, mainly to count the number of turtles, birds and other marine creatures – “you know, all the scientific stuff.”

But they also found a lot of random odds and ends, which he shared on his Facebook page. Some are natural, such as shells, stones and bones. And some that certainly aren’t, like masks, toys, bottles, and, of course, a variety of hideous dolls with missing limbs and terrifying stares.

“We were able to find 30 of these dolls, and the ones we found recently look scarier than ever,” Tunnell said.

So where did it come from?

“A lot of countries don’t have a way to dispose of waste, so they often put it in the river or if it’s an island country, they might just push it into the sea,” Tunnel said.

“Then with the ocean currents and the way they work in the Gulf of Mexico where we’re headed, we get this eddy that pushes anything in that current toward the Texas coast.”

This is due to a phenomenon called the loop current, defined by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association as “an area of ​​warm water that rises from the Caribbean, across the Yucatan Peninsula, and into the Gulf of Mexico.”

A 2018 study found Texas gets 10 times the amount of marine debris that washes ashore than any other state in the Gulf of Mexico, and 93 percent of it is plastic.

But why on the beach get a lot of dolls in particular is anyone. They started popping up in 2021, Tunnell said, and haven’t stopped since. One of the first photos posted of the doll’s head in 2021 became an instant hit.

“We like to find natural things … but we almost always start with photos of dolls – because, for some reason, that brings a lot of people,” says Tunnell.

“And that’s the goal, trying to educate people about what’s being washed out of the ocean.”

The doll has become a media sensation, garnering international headlines and even attention Sunday last night host John Oliver, who bought the last 12 years for $ 10,000 US.

“It’s a huge benefit to rehab facilities,” Tunnell said.

Tunnell appeared on the show, where the comedian suggested a less-than-scientific explanation for the doll’s appearance in Texas.

“They’re convinced there’s a 4,000-year-old girl out there who put the doll out there to give people nightmares,” Tunnell said.

WATCH | Turn creepy dolls into art:

Dolls aren’t the only interesting items up for auction this year. There’s also a nearly meter-long fiberglass mermaid, possibly from a ship, that Tunnell hopes will fetch a few hundred bucks.

And my personal favorite – six blocks of coal.

“It’s actually coal that’s been on steamships since the 1800s,” he said. “This is the first year we’ve had these at auction, and we’ll see if they sell.”

He said they have between 200 and 300 items in the auction block, with prices starting from $5 to $100 US. In previous years, he said the auction raised $2,500 to $3,000, which went toward marine wildlife rehabilitation.

Most people, he said, are looking for more traditional nautical items, such as floats and floats, to use for nautical-themed fence and yard decorations.

But the doll is a favorite among those who want something new.

“We can say, you know, ‘You can put it in your neighbor’s mailbox, you know, they’ll love it!’ Or, ‘You can use it to decorate at Halloween,'” he said.

“So we kind of build up and then people start bidding on each other. So, you know, it’s all in good fun to raise money for sea turtles and bird rehab centers.”