VANCOUVER, British Columbia — British Columbia's coroner's office called the discovery of a sixth floating foot a hoax, saying Thursday that it was really an animal paw stuffed inside a running shoe.

Initially, Wednesday's find deepened a mystery surrounding the feet, all of which were recovered within the past year floating within a few miles of each other along island shorelines in the Strait of Georgia near Vancouver.

But the sixth discovery was determined a hoax after coroner's officials determined that it was the skeletal remains of an animal's foot.