Mysterious ‘horned’ sea monster washes ashore in Spain

The Big Blue An Outdoor // Nature Blog

 

Remains of odd, unidentified creature stretches 13 feet, leaves officials baffled; Loch Ness, water dinosaur, sea dragon are among absurd guesses

August 21, 2013 by David Strege

 

A mysterious sea creature featuring what appear to be horns on its head was discovered in the advanced stages of decomposition along the shoreline of Luis Siret Beach in Villaricos, Spain, on Thursday.
A woman first discovered the head and then found the body farther down the beach, according to ThinkSpain.com. The entire carcass with the head stretched 13 feet.
“A lady found one part and we helped her retrieve the rest,” said Maria Sanches of Civil Protection in Cuevas. “We have no idea what it was. It really stank.”

The find caused widespread speculation as to what it could be, some humorously suggesting it was a link to the Loch Ness Monster or was some sort of sea dragon or water dinosaur. Others surmised it was a mutant fish or some sort of shark species. The best guess here is an oarfish.
“It’s hard to know what we’re dealing with,” A PROMAR (Programa en Defensa de la Fauna Marina-Sea Life Defense Program) spokesman Paco Toledano told Ideal.es Ameria, according to Inexplicata. “It’s very decomposed and we cannot identify what it is.
“Perhaps we could learn something more from the bones, but to be precise, it would be necessary to perform a genetic analysis, which is very expensive and who would pay for it?
“Anyway, we have submitted the information to colleagues with more experience and knowledge to see if they can tell us something more specific.”
Toledano did shed some light on the horns of the sea creature, however. He said they are actually bones that have fallen out of place.
“It’s not a longhorn cowfish, that’s for sure,” he joked.
Photos from Ideal.es Ameria Facebook page.