Mysterious 50-foot creature that washed ashore finally identified
The rotting corpse of a 50-foot sea creature washed ashore in Indonesia last week, and at first, no one could figure out what it was.
Based on photo and video evidence gathered by beachgoers, researchers may now have an answer.
a giant
unidentified
dead thing
is decomposing off the coast of the indonesian island of seram
and nobody
knows
what
it
is pic.twitter.com/zPjpyOtdjJ— Nick Andersen (@nicktheandersen) May 12, 2017
George Leonard, the chief scientist at the Ocean Conservancy, told The Huffington Post that the dead creature is probably a baleen whale based on the skeleton and the presence of baleen. Baleen is a filter-feeder mouth system.
Locals have asked the government to help remove the carcass, which is beginning to leak noxious gas.
According to Live Science, dead whales usually sink to the bottom of the ocean and provide food for creatures that live underwater for years.
See photos of the beast:
