[Merged x 3] The Sea Dragon of Andalusia

[Ligia Cabus]

SPAIN. THURSDAY, Aug. 15 (2013), the lifeless body of a unidentified marine being, appeared on the sands of Playa Luis Siret - coastal, pueblo of Villaricos, Cuevas del Almanzora, Spanish municipality in the province of Almeria - in Andalucía.

Measuring most of four meters long, the animal, of fantastic appearance resembling a sea dragon. MORE...

http://brazilweirdnews.blogspot.com.br/2013/08/the-sea-dragon-of-andalusia.html

[DecoNoir]

Hm. That is a new one. Just going by the pictures, I'd say its the spinal column of a small whale. Being full of tough tendons and ligaments it would be the last parts scavenged.

I hope they took samples before burying it.

[Rafterman]

Impossible to tell, but I'm betting just a plain old dead known sea creature.

[Q-C]

"Meanwhile, members of the Asociación de la Defense en Fauna Marina Almería, according to its coordinator, Francisco Toledano, went to the place analyze the corpse and compare the creature with the pictures obtained. Toledano said:

We had access to the images of body on sands, probably thrown there by strong waves. The pictures are being sent to experts in an attempt to identify the specimen. At first glance it seems a kind of fish but the state of decomposition makes recognition."

Same OP source

Btw, real (leafy and weedy) sea dragons are beautiful and ethereal and mysterious looking, imo. One of my favs.

Edited August 17, 2013 by QuiteContrary

[BuzzLightYear]

Probably an oar fish.

[bassai26]

Probably an oar fish.

yep that resembles it...the king of herrings

[ShadowSot]

Does sort of look like it,b ut the picture's to small to really make it out.

[Ravinoff]

Looks a bit big for an oarfish (in terms of weight and diameter). Too bad the pictures are tiny and taken from the wrong end, they all appear to be from the tail. If I could see the head I might be able to figure it out.

[Macroramphosis]

It would appear that there is a chance that someone in Spain might have forgotten that the rest of the world has slaughterhouses and butchers bulls too. Is it just me or has someone added a bovine cranium (complete with horns) to this oarfish carcass ?

Edited August 18, 2013 by Macroramphosis

[Mr.United_Nations]

Looks a bit big for an oarfish (in terms of weight and diameter). Too bad the pictures are tiny and taken from the wrong end, they all appear to be from the tail. If I could see the head I might be able to figure it out.

Oarfish can get big

[DKO]

Why wouldn't they take a photo from the front?

It would appear that there is a chance that someone in Spain might have forgotten that the rest of the world has slaughterhouses and butchers bulls too. Is it just me or has someone added a bovine cranium (complete with horns) to this oarfish carcass ?

It does look like that. In the first photo it looks like bull horns are placed next to the possible oarfish.

[Eldorado]

That's not a sea dragon. THIS is a sea dragon....

Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007_08_16_Alcala_de_Guadaira_-_Puente_del_Dragon_-_Castillo_%282%29.JPG

Edited August 18, 2013 by Eldorado

[Silver Surfer]

Its falcor.. the luck dragon.. crashed into the sea and died.. washed up on shore.

[Mr.United_Nations]

Its falcor.. the luck dragon.. crashed into the sea and died.. washed up on shore.

crashed?? this thing flew? FLASH AHHHH

[ShadowSot]

Its falcor.. the luck dragon.. crashed into the sea and died.. washed up on shore.

That explain my luck lately.

[DecoNoir]

Oarfish can get big

They get long, but they have a very thin build. This mass of flesh has a bit more mass to it than an oarfish.

Looking at it, I'm thinking perhaps a shark spine. Being made of cartilage it would be less rigid than a bony spine, and the mass at the end could be the remains of a cranium. Maybe it was a white, or perhaps a small basking shark.

[ReaperS_ParadoX]

It would appear that there is a chance that someone in Spain might have forgotten that the rest of the world has slaughterhouses and butchers bulls too. Is it just me or has someone added a bovine cranium (complete with horns) to this oarfish carcass ?

I don't see the horns

[Wyverna]

Hm, I'm thinking it's part of a decomposed animal, maybe a whale or a large shark.

Hopefully they took pieces for a DNA test or something to confirm what it is.

[moonshadow60]

Looks suspiciously like an oarfish to me. They do have those types of frills on them that look like horns and it's decomposing, so how do we know how fat it was when it was alive.

Edited to add that the giant oarfish can grow to 17 meters; this one was only 4 meters long. It is not too long to be an oarfish.

Edited August 18, 2013 by moonshadow60

[ShadowSot]

Hm, I'm thinking it's part of a decomposed animal, maybe a whale or a large shark.

Hopefully they took pieces for a DNA test or something to confirm what it is.

From long experience, the DNA results will show something boring an dso won't get reported.

[Aggie]

In some Spanish newspapers people are saying it looks like a shark. Here is a 3rd picture taken from a different angle:

Edited August 18, 2013 by Aggie

[DKO]

I don't see the horns

In the first photo it looks like bull horns are placed next to the 'long thing'. Just to the top right.

The second photo looks like the horns have been placed closer to the 'long thing'.

In my opinion.

Edited August 19, 2013 by DKO

[Clobhair-cean]

I think it is a shark. This is the tail of a shark, which is quite similar to the morphology of the tail of this animal, at least from what I can make out:

The fact that it's only a spine and maybe part of a head also points to it being a shark. I think the remains are far too bulky for a decayed oarfish, and the seeming absence of ribs and vertebral dorsal spines. based on the reported size (four metres), I'd say it's a basking shark, or maybe a great white.

[Aggie]

Great pic, Clobhair! You are right, comparing with your picture It definitely looks like a shark.

[brlesq1]

In looking at the two pictures, it looks like the "head" has been moved in the second one.