# Giant Dead Sea Thing washes up on Seram island in Indonesia **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 12, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476 "2017-05-12T19:52:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/21 "2017-05-13T01:57:14Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Definitely whale. Bones and baleen are clearly visible. Also the fact that it is “dying the sea red” around it indicates a vertebrate, since squid have blue blood. \ ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/22 "2017-05-13T03:34:44Z")
We got lucky, I guess. The Category I Kaiju couldn’t survive in our atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/23 "2017-05-13T03:50:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I hope not. I’ve read Dave Barry’s column on that often enough. > It’s still largely in the water. You’d think they could hook into it and tow it offshore somewhere. It’s hard to get enough traction in the water to overcome the friction of something with a hundred tons of force holding it down on land. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/24 "2017-05-13T04:13:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Haven’t any experts gone to the site to examine it in person? There’s only so much you can say from a photograph. In the very first link, someone notes that it’s got bones, so it has to be a whale. > [@Colibri](#): > > ``` > Definitely whale. Bones and baleen are clearly visible. Also the fact that it is "dying the sea red" around it indicates a vertebrate, since squid have blue blood. > > ``` I’m now envisioning a few of my Boston relatives with tentacles and suckers. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/25 "2017-05-13T12:14:24Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > It can’t smell (or see or hear)–it is dead. > . > [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > The Huff Po article says it is a “49-foot creature”, which rules out both squid and whale. Neither of those have any feet at all. > … Like, like. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/26 "2017-05-13T14:53:47Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Another one? Why does that ocean keep dumping it’s giant rotting corpses on our beaches? Anyway, as usual the best way to deal with a giant rotting corpse is blow it up with dynamite. LOL, was it in California that Barney Fife dynamited a rotten whale corpse and it rained giant chunks of rotten flesh all over observers and their cars? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/27 "2017-05-13T14:57:35Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > LOL, was it in California that Barney Fife dynamited a rotten whale corpse and it rained giant chunks of rotten flesh all over observers and their cars? Oregon; see here: > [@running\_coach](#): > > Are they going to [blow it up?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFwxH3PPWiU) ---
**Author:** ![Esco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de053/32.png) [@Esco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esco)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/28 "2017-05-13T15:17:27Z")
They finally found Nessie ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/29 "2017-05-13T23:41:55Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Is there any culture where people would look at that and say “yum?” I know in Iceland they eat [rotting shark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A1karl#Preparation)… It’s not so much “rotting” as it is using low-tech, few-ingredient methods to remove or neutralize the ammonia in the things as much as possible. It’s not that old-time Icelanders _wanted_ to eat rotten shark – they wanted to eat shark without huge amounts of ammonia (which this species routed through its system, for a variety of reasons), and didn’t have a lot on their rocky island to work with. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/30 "2017-05-14T02:48:06Z")
How would it get from the Dead Sea to Indonesia? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/31 "2017-05-14T06:08:53Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > How would it get from the Dead Sea to Indonesia? Drive or take bus, like everybody else. Everyone knows the trains don’t run on time there. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/32 "2017-05-14T12:09:46Z")
\ It’s not dead! \ dum-dum-duuuuum. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/33 "2017-05-14T12:36:08Z")
> [@Esco](#): > > They finally found Nessie This. I heard on NPR that she hasn’t been seen in a while. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/34 "2017-05-14T18:54:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s still largely in the water. You’d think they could hook into it and tow it offshore somewhere. > [@jtur88](#): > > It’s hard to get enough traction in the water to overcome the friction of something with a hundred tons of force holding it down on land. Yeah, best bet is to blow it up, I reckon. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/35 "2017-05-15T03:30:01Z")
That thing isn’t even close to not being identifiable as a whale. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/36 "2017-05-15T03:46:32Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > That thing isn’t even close to not being identifiable as a whale. Perhaps it’s not unidentifiable, but I don’t agree that it’s not even close. I have no doubt that a non-expert like you would be unable to deem it either identifiable or unidentifiable if it were slightly less identifiable. ---
**Author:** ![Mikeisskeptical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@Mikeisskeptical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikeisskeptical)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/37 "2017-05-15T12:57:18Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Perhaps it’s not unidentifiable, but I don’t agree that it’s not even close. I have no doubt that a non-expert like you would be unable to deem it either identifiable or unidentifiable if it were slightly less identifiable. Why would it have to be unidentifiable by a non-expert in order to qualify as unidentifiable in general? Surely, if it is at all identifiable to a non-expert, then it is likely very identifiable to an expert. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/38 "2017-05-15T13:35:26Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Hakarl is eaten because the shark is toxic when fresh. “Ageing” it removes the toxin (trimethylamine oxide). I’d think they’d prefer this one fresh. I’ve had hakarl, and to be honest, the taste makes you kinda wish it was very, very poisonous. It’s one of those things I reckon started out as a drunken bet between a couple of vikings, with everybody just one-upping each other with claims of how tasty it is, and now everybody kinda has to go along with it in order to save face. As for the creature in the link, no idea what it is, but I wouldn’t entirely rule out it’s the result of a drunken bet between a couple of vikings. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/39 "2017-05-15T16:17:31Z")
One scientist has stuck out his (undecayed) neck and declared it a dead whale, possibly suffering from a bacterial infection that made it float instead of sink [http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/scientists-have-identified-the-50-foot-creature-that-washed-up-on-an-indonesian-beach/ar-BBB7Vbh?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=DELLDHP17](http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/scientists-have-identified-the-50-foot-creature-that-washed-up-on-an-indonesian-beach/ar-BBB7Vbh?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=DELLDHP17) Bonus – click on the link and scroll down to see a similarly inflated whale off the coast of Australia that looks like (as the article puts it) the vanguard of an alien invasion. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476/40 "2017-05-15T17:41:39Z")
> [@Mikeisskeptical](#): > > Why would it have to be unidentifiable by a non-expert in order to qualify as unidentifiable in general? > > Surely, if it is at all identifiable to a non-expert, then it is likely very identifiable to an expert. It’s a question of whether a non-expert can deem it not _close_ to being able to be deemed “not unidentifiable”. I argued (albeit as a non-expert myself) that a non-expert could not conclusively determine whether, if it were hypothetically slightly less identifiable, if it would still not be unidentifiable (whether by an expert or not). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-dead-sea-thing-washes-up-on-seram-island-in-indonesia/786476.md?page=3)