Mystery Sea Creature Washes Up on Georgia Beach

Publish date: 2024-04-20

A man from Waycross, Georgia, has been left scratching his head after he discovered a "Loch Ness-type thing" washed up on a beach while out his with his son.

Jeff Warren said he found the strange sea creature after going boating at Wolf Island National Wildlife Refuge in Golden Isles, Georgia, reports Action News Jax.

He initially thought the animal was a dead seal, but upon closure inspection he saw it resembled something from prehistoric times.

The mystery creature, which had already started being devoured by birds on the beach, stretched to around 5ft and appeared to have an elongated neck.

According to First Coast News, Warren recorded the creature and spoke about it at the nearby Skipper's Fish House, where he was told of a legend called "Alty," or Altahama, the local equivalent of the Loch Ness Monster who is said to roam the seas in the area.

However, when Action News Jax the contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for help in understanding what the creature could be, they offered an alternative explanation.

According to the Director Dan Ashe, many sea animals have a way of decomposing which means they resemble a Plesiosaur, a long-necked marine dinosaur that first existed more than 200 million years ago.

Ashe said there have been examples of 30ft-long basking sharks decomposing in such a way that they look as if they have a long neck and small head, in a similar way to a prehistoric creature.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has so far been unable to sufficiently determine what the creature Warren found on the Georgian beach is.

There was similar confusion last September in the wake of Hurricane Harvey after Preeti Desai found a mysterious fanged creature washed up on a beach in Texas City.

Desai posted a picture of the animal onto Twitter along with the caption: " Okay, biology twitter, what the heck is this??"

According to biologist and eel specialist Dr Kenneth Tighe, it was likely that the creature was a fangtooth snake-eel or a garden or conger eel as "all three of these species occur off Texas and have large fang-like teeth," he told the BBC.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

");jQuery(this).remove()}) jQuery('.start-slider').owlCarousel({loop:!1,margin:10,nav:!0,items:1}).on('changed.owl.carousel',function(event){var currentItem=event.item.index;var totalItems=event.item.count;if(currentItem===0){jQuery('.owl-prev').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-prev').removeClass('disabled')} if(currentItem===totalItems-1){jQuery('.owl-next').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-next').removeClass('disabled')}})}})})

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrK6enZtjsLC5jqawrKyVp8Zuv8SaZJyqlZbBtr7EZq6aq5iawG6zxKipoKGRYq%2BmrcKhZHFtYGt%2Fcw%3D%3D