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Deep Sea Monster Baffles Scientists

Posted by timothy on from the as-well-it-ought dept.

sbszine writes "The Sydney Morning Herald has a report of a bizarre sea creature that has washed up on the coast of Chile. The creature is grey, lumpy, and the size of a school bus. Scientists have ruled out the possibility that it may be a whale -- the creature is an invertebrate, and perhaps even a new species."

14 of 138 comments (clear)

  1. From the CCC website by smoondog · · Score: 2, Informative

    The CCC's website (referenced in the article) has found a large beached whale recently. Perhaps the article confused this beached whale (which the article may speculate on the species? My spanish == bad, My spanish via babel == only slightly better) There is a picture, but it is clearly a whale.

    -Sean

    1. Re:From the CCC website by AresTheImpaler · · Score: 2, Informative

      They found 2 animals. the first one was the whale found at Las Mancillas. The other one was found at a beach called Pinuno which is 3.9 kilometers to the north of Las Mancillas. When CCC was alerted of the second aminal they first thought it was another whale, but after they saw the carcass they realized it was an invertebrate. They are now sending some tissues to France so they can have a genetic analissis. They believe is a giant octpus. (that is found in the last 2 paragraphs of the webpages you gave us).

    2. Re:From the CCC website by ccady · · Score: 2, Informative

      The bottom of the referenced page mechanically translates to:

      STRANGE FINDING

      CCC also it was alerted of a second varamiento of whale in the Pinuno beach, 3.9 kilometers to the north of the place where the unit of jorobada whale is located, reason why Sunday attended the place in hours in the morning.

      When acceding to the zone, the inspection equipment could verify that it would not be a cetacean, but of an invertebrate of great dimensions. To grief that other declarations affirm that it would be the leather of a died whale in the ocean, CCC are making the managements to send samples from weave to France with the purpose of making genetic analysis to determine if a mysterious animal is a giant squid (Octopus giganteus) of which a water registry exists only of Florida, the United States, in 1896.

      --
      J'aime mieux les méchants que les imbéciles, parce qu'ils se reposent. -- Alexandre Dumas
  2. Re:Similar Event: Picture included by limitations · · Score: 2, Informative
    Sry, found another picture, looks more like a possiblity.

    ..and no one can figure out what it is..

    ..8 meters long..

    http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVN ew s/20020917/fundy_shark020917/SciTech/story/

    --
    where am i ...?
  3. Re:Chileans - smarter than the Oregon Highway Patr by ddstreet · · Score: 2, Informative
    At least they didn't put a cache of explosives under it and try to get rid of it by detonating it.

    Yep, the Oregon State Highway Division already tried that, and it didn't work!

  4. colossal squid? by mufasio · · Score: 2, Informative

    This sounds awfully similar to the colossal squid that was found a few months back. The article with pics is at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2910849. stm

  5. Re:Possibly... by elite+lamer · · Score: 4, Informative

    The U.S. Navy is testing a new high-powered sonar system. Perhaps it is killing ocean animals whose existence we are (previously) unaware of?

    Do invertebrates have ears? I don't know the answer, but I do know quite a good deal about the U.S. Navy's sonar program (called SURTASS or sometimes SURTASS LFA) as I just spent the past week researching it for a debate tournament.

    SURTASS LFA (Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System, Low Frequency Active) sends out sonar pings to search for mines, submarines, and the like at around 180 dB, though it can get louder or quieter than that. It does indeed cause severe damage to marine life, particularly whales and dolphins, who communicate with sonar and therefore are susceptible to this type of sonar. It causes severe acoustic trauma and sometimes bleeding around the ears and even death. It is also known to cause strandings of whales...

    The reason I bring this up is that if any sea creature doesn't have ears/can't hear sound/whatever, they are immune to this type of sonar. However, if they do have ears, they can be quite vulnerable to it. Do any invertebrates have ears? Do squid? This could be related.

    --
    Oops!
  6. Photos of Sea Lump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    There are photos available on the CNN site:
    "Giant sea creature baffles Chilean scientists"
    http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/07/02/chile .science.reut/index.html
    Unless someone has already posted

  7. Re:Fine journalism by arsheive · · Score: 3, Informative

    This CNN article has a photo.

    --
    @AlexSheive
    :wq
  8. Re:humpback whale found nearby by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    They are not. You're thinking of a sperm whale.

  9. Nope. That's sperm. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Um, those would be SPERM whales that eat giant squid, not Humpback whales. Please remember not to confuse "Sperm" and "Hump Back". It could be embarrasing in other circumstances...

    Who is naming these whales anyway, Ron Jeremy?

  10. pic of it... by tordia · · Score: 3, Informative

    This pic of the thing doesn't show it all, but it definitely looks big and like it would smell bad.

    --

    Frogs are primitive animals - so the occasional extra toe is not that unusual. But this is very unusual.

  11. Pictures finally posted by jfengel · · Score: 2, Informative

    Reuters has finally put up some pictures.

    You've all been waiting for this, but of course in a photo it just looks like a big gray blob.

  12. photos by commodoresloat · · Score: 3, Informative

    AP photo
    Reuters photo