A curious phenomenon is captivating the attention of locals on Haida Gwaii, where photographs reveal an unusual beach formation that has left many puzzled.

“I’ve asked quite a few of the elders here if they had ever seen and none of them said they had ever seen it,” said Skidegate Chief Councillor Bill Yovanovich, who took the photos Saturday on Lina Island.

The images depict small fragments of white shells meticulously arranged in what appears to be a deliberate grid pattern spanning over a hundred meters along the shoreline.

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“I had never seen anything on the beach like that before. You’ll see the horizontal tide lines, but never the vertical ones.”

“It could possibly have been somebody collected those and made the formations … but it would be tedious and would take a long time, and it really looked like the tide had done it.”

Initially shared by Yovanovich on his Facebook page and a local First Nations food gathering group, the photos have sparked considerable interest and debate among community members.

Some speculate that the formation may be attributed to rare oceanic square waves, while others argue that it is man-made. Alternative theories propose that the grid could be remnants of ancient clam beds, but Yovanovich notes that the shell pieces were only found on the surface of the sand and did not seem recently unearthed.

“Locally, here, our elders are thinking it might be the work of some of the supernatural beings. A lot of other people are jokingly saying it was aliens,” said Yovanovich.

Professor Robert Holman, an expert in beach processes and near-shore waves at Oregon State University, expressed skepticism about the natural occurrence of the shapes. While initially considering the possibility of the grid being a measure for social distancing, the remote location of the beach makes this explanation unlikely.

“I would say the chances are a little less than 0.00000 per cent,” said Holman.

“You can see that there have been several high tide lines since the lines were done (wrack lines in the near field at two elevations).”