Mystery sea beast that baffled scientists when it washed up on an Indonesian beach is finally identified…and proves internet experts were completely WRONG
The colossal beast was thought to be a giant squid but it's been confirmed as a whale
A MYSTERIOUS sea creature the size of a cargo container that washed up on a beach in Indonesia has finally been identified – proving web experts wrong.
The colossal beast – which was found at Hulung Beach on Seram Island last week – was initially believed to be a giant squid.
But officials have now announced the 50ft-long remains belong to a whale.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries in West Seram told Jakarta Globe it was a type of sperm whale, saying: "With sperm whales, when they decay, the intestines will come out through the bottom of the throat, which is striped like a pumpkin, and they become curved."
It is believed the island where it was found is on the whales' migration route to the Pacific Ocean.
An expert told the HuffPost the carcass was probably that of a baleen whale.
George Leonard, the chief scientist at the Ocean Conservancy, said parts of the protruding skeleton and what appear to be baleen plates used to filter out food were tell-tale signs.
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In any case, it seems the mystery monster is not a giant squid – initially thought to be so because the remains looked like tentacles.
Government troops were called in to help clear the carcass after local fisherman Asrul Tuanakota, 37, stumbled across it last week.
Experts and residents alike were initially baffled by the giant mass, which was first spotted at night.
It is not the first giant creature to shock the region in recent months.
In February, scientists and locals in the Phillipines were baffled by a 65ft-long "sea blob" that appeared on a beach.
After speculation it was an alien, the mass was later identified as another whale carcass.
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