When a giant, hairy, apparently dead thing turned up on the shores of the Dinagat Islands in the Philippines, locals were understandably confused.
The large creature measured at roughly 20 feet long and weighed more than 4,000 pounds, according to National Geographic. It appeared to have shaggy white hair and was so otherworldly, some people speculated that it was half-whale, half-polar bear.
But at least one expert think she’s got it figured out.
“It’s definitely a very decomposed sea creature in the later stages of decomposition,” Lucy Babey, head of science and conservation for whale and dolphin protection group ORCA, told the BBC.
Similarly, a team of researchers from the municipal office of Cagiano believe the remains are from a whale that had been dead for two weeks. Its “hair” is likely from decomposed muscle fibers, according to the National Geographic.
Babey seems to think the animal is a whale, too.
“The carcass is about six meters long, but that’s obviously not the whole carcass ― there’s no tail so it would have been bigger than that,” Babey added. “That would suggest that it was probably a whale.”
Locals believe that the creature washed on shore as a result of a 6.7 magnitude earthquake that hit the Philippines on Feb. 10.
Check out the hairy, decaying creature below.
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