The dolls appear, one by one, coated in sand and muck and seaweed.
Limbs are missing, and once-pristine clothing is tattered. Hair is matted. Plastic bodies are covered in barnacles, sticky little crustaceans related to crabs.
Yet smiles remain painted on their faces, which feels both vaguely sinister and like a hint of a previous life.
For years, these creepy dolls have washed up on a 40-mile stretch of Texas’ gulf shore, extending from North Padre Island to Matagorda Island.
“We never know what we’ll find here,” said Jace Tunnell, director of the Mission-Aransas Reserve at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute. “I’m surprised every week.”
Researchers from the institute comb the beaches weekly for sea life and endangered birds, but they also find debris — and not only dolls. They have discovered old toothbrushes, volleyballs, a mannequin leg, a metal toolbox, a plastic bowling ball, canisters of cigarettes, and yes, even messages tucked inside bottles.
Texas’ coast is home to roughly 10 times the amount of trash found on other Gulf of Mexico beaches like Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, Tunnell said. That’s because a “loop current,” extends from the Yucatan Peninsula to Florida, pushing debris toward Texas.
Researchers began posting photos on Facebook of its beach finds as a way to connect with the public during the COVID-19 pandemic and gently remind people to be mindful of their trash.
But the dolls quickly developed an unexpected following.
In 2020, the institute unknowingly posted a photo of a sex doll found on the beach. Someone later bought that doll’s head for $35 and proceeds were donated to a sea turtle rescue program, Tunnell said.
Another doll was scribbled on with green marker. Some are missing hair. Others have been decapitated or had clothing nibbled by sea turtles. Simply put, they are terrifying.
No one knows where the dolls came from or how old they are. Debris flows from rivers and creeks around the world before eventually emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.
A variety of publications, from Southern Living to Smithsonian Magazine, have taken notice of the mysterious dolls. Last year, HBO’s John Oliver offered his own take on the origins of what he called “demon dolls.”
“I am very worried,” he said, “that each and every one is coming from a little girl who is 4,000 years old, lives on a floating Victorian house that haunts the Gulf and holds the devil in her little heart.”
As for the fate of the dolls, they will soon have new homes. The reserve is planning to auction them at a fundraiser this spring to raise money for animal rehabilitation efforts.
“We want to make sure the next generation has a clean ocean,” Tunnell said. “That’s our ultimate goal here.”
