A puzzling bounty of piggy banks has emerged along the Texas coastline, leaving locals and experts scratching their heads. This unusual discovery was made by Jace Tunnell, a marine biologist from the Harte Research Institute, who has stumbled upon over 60 brightly-colored piggy banks scattered across various beaches in South Texas this year. Remarkably, 14 of these were found in just a single day.
The origins of these whimsical plastic pigs remain a mystery, though Tunnell has a couple of theories. He speculates that they might have been discarded by dissatisfied customers or perhaps they were casualties of a maritime mishap, lost in an accident at sea.
In discussions with 12NewsNow, Tunnell noted that all the piggy banks he and fellow beachcombers have encountered on the shores of the Bolivar Peninsula and South Padre Island seem to hail from South American or Caribbean countries. This has led him to surmise that the influx of piggy banks could stem from a cargo spill or a container ship incident.
Tunnell has pointed out that the piggy banks bear distinctive markings which might hold the key to unraveling this enigma. “Once these piggy banks have been used, you’ll notice there’s a bunch of cuts in them. There’s no other way to get the money out, so people dispose of them, whether it’s directly in the ocean or on land,” he explained to the news outlet.
He concluded that the tsunami of plastic sow could be collateral from a cargo spill or container ship accident — but said markings on the items could be a big clue to solve the mystery.
“Once these piggy banks have been used, you’ll notice there’s a bunch of cuts in them. There’s no other way to get the money out, so people dispose of them, whether it’s directly in the ocean or on land,” Tunnell told the outlet.
Some of the banks appeared to have never been used, as if they were ditched immediately after purchase or even by the distributors themselves.
Tunnell theorized the banks floated with ease because they were empty they floated with ease — and were likely pulled into currents that led them to the Texas coast,
Tunnell hasn’t found a single cent in any of the 60 piggy banks he’s retrieved, and warned aspiring treasure hunters not to get their hopes up.
“Every time I post one, people are like, ‘What was in there? Did you find any money?’ I just tell them, sand dollars. That’s the only thing I ever found in there,” Tunnell told the outlet.
Even with decades of marine expertise under his belt, Tunnell can’t say for certain why the banks are turning up in droves.
“Maybe the Gulf is just saving up for something big, one pig at a time,” Tunnell suggested in a column with the Caller Times.
