The BC Coroners Service has confirmed a second foot washed up on Botanical Beach near Port Renfrew is human.

Work by the BC Coroners Service Identification Unit has also shown that the running shoe and the foot within it are a match for the shoe and foot which were found several days previously in the same area of beach.

A person walking on Botanical Beach found the second running shoe on the afternoon of Feb. 12, 2016. The person was aware of the first foot that had been found, recognized the potential significance of their find, and immediately contacted authorities. The first foot had been found by a hiker on the same beach on Feb. 7, 2016.

The shoes involved are men’s New Balance running shoes, blue and black in colour, size 12. This type of shoe was first sold in North America in March 2013 which implies that the shoe’s owner died at some point between March 2013 and December 2015.

Examination suggests that both feet disarticulated naturally from the rest of the body, a result of prolonged immersion in water. There is no indication of trauma or of mechanical severance of the feet.

The Identification Unit of the BC Coroners Service will now continue to support the regional coroners and community and police partners in determining the identity of the individual concerned and a cause of death. Final confirmation in these circumstances must come from DNA testing.

These are the 11th and 12th feet that have washed up along the B.C. coastline since 2007. The BC Coroners Service has been able to identify six of the previous 10 feet, belonging to six individuals. In none of the cases was any foul play involved.