Tasmanian Globster

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File:The Mercury Tasmanian Globster.png
March 9, 1962 issue of The Mercury covering the Tasmanian Globster.

The Tasmanian Globster was a large unidentified carcass that washed ashore in western Tasmania, in August 1960. It measured Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). by Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). and was estimated to weigh between 5 and 10 tons. The mass lacked eyes and in place of a mouth, had "soft, tusk-like protuberances". It had a spine, six soft, fleshy 'arms' and stiff, white bristles covering its body.

The carcass was identified as a whale by L.E. Wall in the journal Tasmanian Naturalist in 1981,[1] and a later electron microscopy analysis of the collagen fibers confirmed this.[2]

The term globster was coined in 1962 by Ivan T. Sanderson to describe this carcass and the name Sea Santa, coined by another journalist in the same year.

Second carcass

A similar find was reported by Ben Fenton, one of those involved in the earlier find, in 1970.[3] It was buried in the sand, but the visible part was 8 ft (2.4 m) long. Pictures taken of this carcass have since gone missing.

References

  1. Harris, J.M. 2005 Mammal Records from the Tasmanian Naturalist PDF The Tasmanian Naturalist 127: 20-41
  2. Pierce, S., S. Massey, N. Curtis, G. Smith, C. Olavarría & T. Maugel 2004. Microscopic, Biochemical, and Molecular Characteristics of the Chilean Blob and a Comparison With the Remains of Other Sea Monsters: Nothing but Whales. PDF Biological Bulletin 206: 125-133
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Ellis, R. 1994. Monsters of the Sea. Robert Hale, London.
  • Pinkney, J. 2003. Great Australian Mysteries. Five Mile Press, Australia.