A ghostly white lump of decayed flesh shaped like a "mermaid" has washed up on the shore of an island in Papua New Guinea. Experts are divided over what it is, Live Science reports.
Residents of the small volcanic island of Simberi (population of only about 1,000 people) discovered the mysterious remains on September 20.
The find is a so-called globster, an unidentified organic mass that washed up on the shore. It is difficult to determine who these remains belong to.establish: corpses are found badly decomposed, some parts end up in the sea. In the case of the "mermaid" in Papua New Guinea, most of the head and much of the body are missing (flesh).
The "mermaid's" remains were not properly measured before being buried - the body weight and size are unknown. DNA samples were also not taken. So a precise identification is almost impossible..
The experts were also unable to determine from the photo who exactly the remains might belong to. According to ecologist Helen Marsh from James Cook University in Australia, it could be a marine mammal. However, the scientist believes that one can only guess who it is.
Marine mammal expert Sasha Hoorek from the University of St Andrews suggested the remains looked like a decomposed cetacean, adding that cetacean remains turn this color when their skin falls off.
Researcher Erich Hoyt of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation hypothesized that the remains belong to a pygmy sperm whale or dugong.
Jens Currie of the Pacific Whale Foundation is also inclined to believe it is a dugong. He believes the remains of the head are too wide, meaning, the remains cannot belong to cetaceans. CourtI, by the amount of subcutaneous fat, added the expert, this is a marine mammal, not a shark.
Live Science clarifies that, according to a 2021 study published in the journal Pacific Science, the most common cetacean species in the region are the short-finned pilot whale, spinner dolphin, slender-snouted dolphin, and sperm whale.
There are experts who disagree that this globster is the remains of a marine mammal. Marine biologist Gavin Naylor from the University of Florida, who maintains the International Shark Attack Registry, believes that the "mermaid" is the remains of a large shark. However, the scientist called it strange that all the skin had decomposed.
Another shark expert interviewed by Live Science disagreed with Naylor. Marine biologist Gregory Skomal of the Boston University admitted: at first he also thought it was a shark. But then he changed his mind. He saw vertebrae in the footage. They more closely resemble the skeletal structure of a cetacean than a shark, the scientist decided.
Previously, scientists managed to identify a mysterious creature that was captured in 2018 by underwater photographer Ryo Minemizu off the coast of Okinawa. For five years, it was unclear what it was. It turned out that the photographer had stumbled upon not one, but two creatures. Two types of cercariae, the larvae of a parasitic worm, had firmly clung to each other.