Sea Monster Carcass Washes Ashore in Britain
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on July 20th, 2011
A couple were left shocked when they discovered the rotting body of a sea monster while walking along a beach.
Margaret and Nick Flippence made the incredible find as they exercised their dogs at Bridge of Don, Aberdeen.
Mr Flippence, 59, who lives nearby, said: ‘We were stunned. I thought, “oh my God what is it?”
Monster discovery: Margaret Flippence with the 30-ft long sea creature she saw at Bridge at Don, Aberdeen
What is it? Experts believe the carcass could have been a killer whale or a pilot whale
‘It’s like nothing we have ever seen, it almost looks pre-historic,’ he told the Sun.
Curled up by the foot of sand dunes was the 30ft-long body of the unidentified animal with head, tail and teeth all discernible.
Experts are now examining the pictures with one suggesting it could be the body of a whale.
A spokesman for the Natural History Museum said: ‘We have spoken to one of our mammals curators, and they have confirmed the animal is probably a long-finned pilot whale – Globicephala melas.
‘Apparently it’s not unusual for these to wash up on the shore.’
Rob Deville, a marine life expert at London Zoo, said the body could be that of a killer whale or a smaller pilot whale.
Whale expert Mark Simmonds told the Sun: ‘it died a long time ago and tides caused the body to wash ashore.’
Source: The Daily Mail, A monster of a find: Couple walking their dogs discover 30ft carcass of sea creature rotting on beach
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
What a beach find! The best I’ve ever done on a British beach is seals, and once half a dolphin (the back half).
The vertebrae of a mammal and without a doubt a whale. Comparing the skull (which is turned upside down) to killer- and pilot whale and considering the small holes of the (lost) teeth (thanks to K. R. O’Keeffe for pointing me to that) I agree to the opinion of the LNHM that it’s a pilot whale. As Markus Bühler mentions to me 30 ft. seems exxagerated to which I also agree comparing the women to the carcass.
Looks a lot like a Beluga Whale carcass or any variety of mini whales from Pilot to false Killer Whale
The skull & vertebrae don’t resemble a killer whale.
The vertebrae are closer to that of a pilot whale, but a pilot whale has much lower left & right cranial humps with a much higher “saggital crest” lump in the middle of the back of the skull.
This skull is flat with no “sagittal crest” hump but with huge and high left and right cranial humps and a slightly heavier neck vertebrae and a slightly different hook to the jaw.
It looks less reptilian than a beluga whale so it is obviously some sort of whale classification wise.
Morgawr! (or a whale)
I think it is a beaked whale of some kind.
Wow the woman must be at least 15 feet tall!
I certainly don’t know my zoology on whales well enough to make a judgement, but I also seriously doubt anyone’s going to test some tissue to see where it comes from.
My point here, is that if a “sea monster” does wash up on shore, what are the real chances anyone will take the time to find it out. Any decayed carcass almost automatically gets the whale, dolphin monicker and then everyone moves on. What if our sea serpents are actually evolved from whales or pinnipeds? They’re carcasses might actually look very much like a whale, and how many people have the expertise to really catch something out of the ordinary. There’s plenty of arm chair experts, but not too many “in the know” who can make such claims.
I think that’s one of the biggest obstacles for cryptozoology is “commonplace.” People always want to pigeon hole things, and people want things neat and tidy. So when we come across something that doesn’t fit, the first natural reaction is to try to put it in to something we do know.
So when people come across carcasses, on the beach, in the woods, I’d bet money 99% of the time people relate it to something known and move on. I’m not saying this isn’t a whale, but I’m also saying that how many actual carcasses have been overlooked simply because everyone’s looking for the easy answer…
I’m divided between beaked whale and small baleen whale. The whole world is happening except the Med.
lol.. 30 feet? how tall is the woman? 10 feet?
and its a whale..
I don’t know for certain what it is, but I have a few observations. The skull is not upside down because the lower jaw would be V-shaped, not solid. Cetaceans have oddly flattened skulls like that.
Also it must be a toothed creature, not a baleen-bearer since it has sockets for teeth, which baleen whales don’t have.
The skull IS upside down and the lower jaw IS MISSING. That’s obvious for example when you look at the holes of the teeths which are directed upwards.
As STVAberdeenCity reports this carcass was found and examined previously in May through Dr Andrew Brownlow of the Scottish Agricultural College. He identified it as juvenile pilot whale, probably at least five years old. The carcass was lying in a different position and still had its jawbone attached.
Markus- Perhaps you are right.
Looking at the skull I had concluded the apparently upward directed tooth sockets had either broken through or that it was an optical illusion. I have seen this “sockets breaking through the top” happen in skulls I have found.
And I still am having trouble not suspecting one or the other for a very simple reason: I have never seen a skull with a convex palate as this one seems to have (from all photographed angles) especially at the base where the throat would start; all skulls I have seen, and all those in my collection, have a concave palate, especially there.
Looking at online photos of pilot whale skulls this one’s dorsal contours still seem, other than the odd socket holes, to match the contours of the skulls I find illustrated.
I don’t see any fins. And the skull is massive in comparison to the body. Strange.