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Sea Serpents & Monsters (General; Miscellaneous)

Re: Do sea monsters exist?

lordmongrove said:
http://gawker.com/are-there-still-undiscovered-sea-monsters-1503401459
Do sea monsters exist?

Theres already a thread which this post would enhance. I moved your first post there.

Merging again shortly.
 
Looks like a skinned beaver. If you'll pardon the expression.
 
It's a giant salamander:

chinese-giant-salamander-banner2.jpg
 
The FT report in the Alien Zoo column declares the "giant salamander" a hoax, the photo was edited to make a normal salamander look larger and of a new species. Oh well.
 
Carcass found floating in Persian Gulf in 2013, around 40ft long. Probably a whale but any whale-ologists here able to tell?

Details & video here.
 
Dead crocodile?

Edit: 40ft long, yeah...
 
Its a beaked whale.

A beaked whale in better condition
Sowerby's beaked whale: Reclusive deep-water whale washes up on US beach

Sowerbys-beaked-whale-New-England-Aquarium-AP.jpg




Biologists are investigating how rarely-seen whale washed up on Massachusetts beach

DAVID TRAYNER



Sunday 26 July 2015


A reclusive deep water whale has washed up on a US beach, giving marine biologists a rare chance to investigate the species.

The 17ft carcass, weighing almost a tonne, is believed to be a female Sowerby's beaked whale, which typically range in waters up to 5,000ft deep.

Holidaymakers at Jones Beach, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, were amazed to see the whale, which has a distinctive beak, similar to a bottlenose dolphin.

Sowerbys-beaked-whale-Kate-McHugh-DiLoreto-Facebook.jpg
Bathers crowded around the 17ft carcass, which was said to be in a good condition (Facebook/Mary Kate McHugh DiLoreto)Mary Kate McHugh DiLoreto, who discovered the whale while out walking on Friday, posted on Facebook: “We were amazed to learn that one of the rarest species washed ashore.

“It is a beaked whale not commonly found in this area.

“We were told members of the aquarium were heading down to bring it back to study it. Very cool!”

READ MORE:
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GIANT MANTA RAY CAUGHT BY FISHERMEN OFF THE COAST OF PERU

New England Aquarium biologists and staff from the International Fund for Animal Welfare are performing a post-mortem at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Press Association reported.

It is the first Sowerby's beaked whale the aquarium has handled for almost a decade.

CBS Boston reported that the whale's carcass was in fairly good condition when it was discovered.

Sowerbys-beaked-whale-Wikipedia.jpg
Sowerby's beaked whales usually swim in depths of up to 5,000ft and dive for up to 30 minutes (Wikipedia)First described by English naturalist James Sowerby in 1804, Sowerby's beaked whales are reclusive creatures that stay away from ships and are rarely sighted. Commercial fishermen sometimes net them accidentally.

They are believed to feed primarily on squid and molluscs, but cod has also been found in their stomachs.

The carcass offers a chance for biologists to learn more about them.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...e-washes-up-massachusetts-beach-10416569.html
 
Dr Karl Shuker has an interesting post on his blog concerning long necked seals. The article starts off by talking about leopard seals, but scroll down the page for a fascinating account of an unknown species seen off the Orkneys in 1919. This creature was thought to be about 18 feet long with a neck about 5 feet.
http://www.karlshuker.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/the-long-necked-seal-in-cryptozoology_29.html

I looked, and sure enough about 25—30 yards from the boat a long neck as thick as an elephant's fore leg, all rough-looking like an elephant's hide, was sticking up. On top of this was the head which was much smaller in proportion, but of same colour. The head was like that of a dog, coming sharp to the nose. The eye was black and small, and the whiskers were black. The neck, I should say, stuck about 5-6 ft., possibly more, out of the water.
 
Some interesting critters have supposedly washed up on the ocean’s shores. Are they real? Here are 10 possible mystery critters.

 
Some interesting critters have supposedly washed up on the ocean’s shores. Are they real?

Well, most of them are undoubtedly real somethings - partly rotted examples of better-known animals, most likely. I still remember the newspapers when I was quite young, showing a "plesiosaur" which had been caught by a trawler, but which turned out to be a rotting shark. The "Montauk Monster" is another example, almost certainly a decomposing raccoon or similar, not a mystery beaked creature.

As for that video, all very entertaining, but do would it not be better merged with one of our many other "mystery sea creatures" threads?
 
Apart from the Canvey Island monster, which sounds more like a monk fish to me than anything else. But that's just a guess. The Stronsey Beast which could have been anything or nothing at all, and the Japanese Shark, all the rest are whale carcasses.

What looks like hair is just exposed decomposing connective tissue.
 
Well, most of them are undoubtedly real somethings - partly rotted examples of better-known animals, most likely. I still remember the newspapers when I was quite young, showing a "plesiosaur" which had been caught by a trawler, but which turned out to be a rotting shark. The "Montauk Monster" is another example, almost certainly a decomposing raccoon or similar, not a mystery beaked creature.

As for that video, all very entertaining, but do would it not be better merged with one of our many other "mystery sea creatures" threads?

Aaaarr! Merged with long running thread started by an old sea salt.
 
I thought perhaps that #9 the long serpentine critter with horns (somewhat like a overstuffed oar fish with horns) could prove valid?
 
It's either a shark or a smallish whale. The thing is on its back, so what look like horns are actually the two parts of the lower jaw bone. Separated and bent outward. If you freeze the frame at about 12:03, you can see the upper jaw beneath them.

I wish it was something though. I'd love to see some sort of evidence for any cryptid.
 
Apart from the Canvey Island monster, which sounds more like a monk fish to me than anything else. But that's just a guess. The Stronsey Beast which could have been anything or nothing at all, and the Japanese Shark, all the rest are whale carcasses.

What looks like hair is just exposed decomposing connective tissue.
The Stronsey Beast was a basking shark, thought it seems to have been a truly huge one.
 
The 'giant turtle' is an upside down, dead hump backed whale. Trunko was a very rotten dead whale. The Gulf carcass, also a dead whale.
 
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I might repeat something old now, I apologize if I do so. There are people believing the Megalodon is still roaming the worlds oceans. What do you think? I believe Megalodon is extinct, although, the worlds oceans are quite unexplored.
 
I think it's most likely extinct.
Unless it is capable of hiding in really deep water (and being a shark, this is unlikely - judging from the behaviour of other sharks), I don't think a creature that big would remain undiscovered for long.
 
I believe at > 70 tons and > 60 feet in length it would be hard to hide. Also with the creatures veracious appetite "the shark existed by and large by eating whales", again such an eating machine would be hard to hide. Although it's only been extinct for a little over a million years. Unless it lives in very small numbers in some remote part of the oceans.

Most of the newer larger sharks found such as Megamouth, the 6 Gill and the Goblin Shark are deep water sharks and are never seen by the average diver or fisherman. Although Megalodon could almost certainly dive deep to feed on whales and giant squid it wasn't a deep sea only resident like the newer discovered sharks.
 
Whale missing tail fins spotted off New Zealand

A humpback whale missing most of its tail has been spotted off New Zealand.

The whale was first seen on Monday off the coast of Kaikoura on the north-east coast of South Island.

It was not clear how it came to lose its flukes, said local Department of Conservation ranger Mike Morrissey, but "it could have been the result of entanglement" in fishing nets.

But despite what looks like a severe injury, the whale seemed to be doing fine, he told the BBC...


Link here.

I'm just wondering if such an injury could explain some sightings of sea monsters. The second and third photographs are particularly striking in this context.

Edited to fix link.
 
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I'm heading there tomorrow. I know it's a whale, but I was actually planning to go there tomorrow anyway to find out about the fishing, and resident seal.

Thanks for posting that hunck, my fiancee lives in Port Talbot and I spend about half my time thee, but I'd totally missed this.
 
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