shockz Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 SANTIAGO, Chile, July 2 ? A huge, gelatinous sea creature found washed up on Chile?s coast has stumped scientists, who have sent samples to a specialist in France for help in identifying the mystery specimen. The dead creature was mistaken for a beached whale when first reported last week, but experts who went to see it said the 40-foot-long mass of decomposing lumpy gray flesh apparently was an invertebrate. Read the rest: http://www.msnbc.com/news/933992.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spyder Veteran Posted July 2, 2003 Veteran Share Posted July 2, 2003 cool i like stuff like this. please be sure to post a follow up with whatever they find this thing to be. (Y) :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Candyman Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 looks like a jelly fish to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spyder Veteran Posted July 2, 2003 Veteran Share Posted July 2, 2003 :| thats one huge jellyfish .. actually i'd be one huge anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threetonesun Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 How do you mistake that for a beached whale? It's just a big lump of ... something/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Candyman Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 in related news: http://www.msnbc.com/news/674647.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tran Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 I don't what that is, so I'll just agree and say it's a jellyfish. Damn, that's one big jellyfish! The aliens were or are here... :alien: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
username Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 i heard about this on coast to coast last night, very interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 We can send a man to the moon, but we still don't know what lives in the oceans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 ?WE?D NEVER before seen such a strange specimen, we don?t know if it might be a giant octopus that is missing some of its parts or maybe it?s a new species,? said Elsa Cabrera, director of the Center for Cetacean Conservation in Santiago. The round substance looks like a mammoth jelly fish and is about as long as a school bus. Giant octopus live at a depth of up to 9,500 feet and only rise to the surface when they die. Specimens have been known to be as long as 30 feet. WHALE SKIN? There was speculation that the mass might be a whale skin, but Cabrera said it was too big and did not have the right texture or smell. Steve Webster, senior marine biologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, wasn?t ready to rule that out, at least based on the photo and limited information he has read. If the texture is leathery, he said, ?I would opt more for whale skin ... the rotted, separated skin of a blue, Sei or fin whale could easily be this size.? ?In addition,? he said, ?at least 50 percent to 80 percent of the length of a giant squid or octopus is arms and tentacles, not the body. From what I can see in the picture, this is one big mass of tissue, and is not divided into what might be arms or tentacles.? The Chilean Navy first spotted the mystery specimen along with another large mass near Puerto Montt, in southern Chile, but the other dead animal turned out to be a humpback whale. GIANT OCTOPUS OR PLANKTON? Cabrera?s group sent samples to French specialist Michel Raynal. The center contacted him and his initial impression was that it is a giant octopus, Cabrera told MSNBC.com. A review of literature found only one other giant octopus of a similar shape and size, Cabrera said, a specimen found on a Florida beach in 1896. Cabrera noted the Chilean specimen is bigger than what was found in 1896, measuring about 40 feet long, 18 feet wide, and three feet high at its highest point. Webster raised the possibility that if the blob is gelatinous, and not particularly tough and leathery, then it could be what?s known as a pyrosome ? a colony of millions of plankton that can grow to up to 60 feet long. He said that genetic analysis of the tissue should reveal some clues to identify the specimen. ?If this were just the head and body of a squid or octopus,? he added, ?then it appears to be far larger than any such critter known to date.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aem4162 Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 neato keen :wub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toxicfume Veteran Posted July 2, 2003 Veteran Share Posted July 2, 2003 Quite cool! But I thought it would be something wierder than a species of a Squid. The more is learnt about something, the lesser interesting it becomes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 Yeah...the plankton thing is pretty wild. Hate to get tangled in that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+chorpeac MVC Posted July 2, 2003 MVC Share Posted July 2, 2003 There have to be all kinds of things down there. I am surprised we haven't seen more things like this. Te last I heard was that they think it is some kind of giant octopus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuarterSwede Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 It does sort of look like a beached octopus ... not that I've ever seen one :) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroChaos Veteran Posted July 2, 2003 Veteran Share Posted July 2, 2003 wow, that is some crazy creature! interesting indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CherTon Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 I hope they find out what it is soon. Too big to be a jelly fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samoa Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 We can send a man to the moon, but we still don't know what lives in the oceans. Yep, amazing as it is... we still don't know... nor do we really try....(which is worse?) :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiggzy Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 Yep, amazing as it is... we still don't know... nor do we really try....(which is worse?) :huh: coz its cheaper to go into space than into the sea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyre Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 Don't kid yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatnipOligarchy Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 the sea is a mysterious place indeed.. i really hope that isnt a jellyfish.. jellyfish would have to be my biggest fear.. so im just gonna pretend thats a squid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayrider Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 anyhone have bigger pics of the jellyfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altezza Veteran Posted July 3, 2003 Veteran Share Posted July 3, 2003 Wow that's freaking huge jellyfish. Well looks like jellyfish to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davemania Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 There has been other weird stuff that has washed up on shore in the past and it turns out to be organs of whales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacey Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 yea sorta looks like a jellyfish. it would be cool to see what other giant things live in the ocean. why is this thread in real world issues in the NSSA area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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