Top 10 Weirdest Creatures That Have Washed Ashore

Mixi October 02, 2021 | 09:37

The ocean is as mysterious as it is deep. And in the bottom reaches of its waters lurk some strange, sometimes frightening, and ultimately fascinating creatures.

Weirdest Creatures. Photo: KnowInsiders

Many weird and mysterious creatures or animals have washed up on our shores over the years.

With an estimated 95 percent of the world’s oceans yet to be explored, science may never have a complete catalog of the various life forms that navigate their depths.

Sometimes, these odd creatures or animals come to us instead. Inclement weather, outside forces, or just plain bad luck have led to some strange sea dwellers washing ashore to confuse—and sometimes terrify—onlookers until they can be identified.

The List of 10 Weirdest Creatures Washing Ashore

1. Hoodwinker sunfish

2. Football fish

3. Giant squid

4. Hairy Sea Monster

5. The Madball of Cape Town

6. Montauk Monster

7. Sharks with missing livers

8. Oarfish with Enormous Ovaries

9. The Marine Monster

10. The Demon Dolphine

***

Which are the 10 Weirdest Creatures Washing Ashore?

1. Hoodwinker sunfish

Photo: The Independent

This one got the international marine biology community debating which species this big fellow actually was after being reported by USA Today in February, the first of his kind to be spotted in the Northern Hemisphere.

When the 7ft fish hit the shore in California, scientists thought he was an ocean sunfish. However, what became more important was its size, no matter what way you measured.

“Hola Mola mola,” the Facebook post by Coal Oil Point Reserve read, “It’s even taller (fin tip to fin tip) than it is long!”

However, Australian scientists saw the footage and corrected what those in Santa Barbara had labelled him.

Mariana Nyegaard of Murdoch University said, “I literally fell off my chair when I opened the first photo,” after she confirmed his true identity.

2. Football fish

Photo: The Guardian

This rare fish was found on California beach on 8 May, and social media users were quick to point that this species was best known for its role in 2003’s Pixar classic Finding Nemo. It is usually found thousands of feet beneath the sea.

Females get up grow up to 24 inches in length, while males measure in much shorter. This particular fish was discovered on Newport Beach and is with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. It’s expected to end up as part of an exhibit in a zoo.

3. Giant squid

Photo: The Mirror

Giant squid (Architeuthis dux) have inspired myths and legends for centuries, but a sighting is extremely uncommon. These gargantuan creatures are the world's largest invertebrates and have the biggest eyes in the animal kingdom. They inhabit deep water and rarely wash up on land.

But in October 2013, a monstrous giant squid washed up on a Spanish beach. The tentacled behemoth measured 30 feet (9 meters) long and weighed 400 pounds (180 kilograms) — that's about the same weight as an adult brown bear.

In 2020, an even larger giant squid turned up in Britannia Bay, South Africa. The specimen was remarkably intact, and was likely more than 13 feet (4 m) long and weighed over 660 pounds (330 kg), Live Science previously reported.

4. Hairy Sea Monster

Photo: Siberian Times

Residents of the Oriental Mindoro province of the Philippines were baffled by the appearance of a huge hairy beast in May 2018. Before experts were able to examine and identify the body, onlookers named the 20-foot (6 m) carcass "the globster." As is to be expected of a gigantic rotting sea creature, the smell was pretty staggering. Scientists later explained that the blobby body was probably the remains of a whale, and that the hair-like strands covering it were most likely decomposing muscle fibers.

5. The Madball of Cape Town

Photo: News24

Looking much like a Cenobite keychain, this fierce little creature was allegedly plucked from the sands of a Cape Town, South Africa resort area by a tourist. Appearing to have a body comprised mostly of a mouth, the fanged horror was photographed and sent along to the University of Cape Town’s biological sciences department. Their best guess? It’s Chorisochismus dentex, or a klipsuier, a nibbler that feeds on mussels. The corpse had dried out, disfiguring its already troubling features.

Top 10 Most Dangerous Animals in the World

Although Hollywood films suggest our greatest threats include sharks and rampaging apes, the deadliest creatures are often much smaller – and more likely to kill ...

6. Montauk Monster

Photo: NY Daily News

In July 2008, a photo of what looked like the demon that possessed Sigourney Weaver in Ghostbusters made the internet rounds. “The Montauk Monster,” so named because it was discovered on a beach in Montauk, New York, was a curious-looking carcass that was not immediately identifiable. The animal wasn’t available for autopsy—it was carted away by person or persons unknown—but zoologists asked by media to examine the photo were fairly certain it was a decomposing raccoon that had lost enough hair and skin to reduce its charms considerably. Later, a trio of men from nearby Shelter Island admitted to finding a dead raccoon and giving it a "Viking funeral" by setting it ablaze on the water. Whether that’s true or not, the “monster” was almost certainly the same as the one partial to rooting through your trash.

7. Sharks with missing livers

Photo: SURFER Magazine

The coast of South Africa became the scene of a watery whodunit in May 2017, when three great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) washed ashore. The puzzling part? They were all missing their livers, and one was missing its heart. Scientists performed necropsies on all three sharks, examining their injuries to uncover the cause of death.

Their detective work identified the likely culprit: orcas. Orcas (Orcinus orca), also called killer whales, are known to attack other shark species and eat their organs, and the sharks' injuries were consistent with their handiwork. Livers are a particularly choice snack for orcas because they're filled with fat and rich in nutrients.

8. Oarfish with Enormous Ovaries

Photo: USA Today's FTW

A beach on Catalina Island, California was host to a rare sight in June, 2015: a huge deep-sea oarfish. As the name suggests, these fish usually keep out of sight in deep water. This beached giant, measuring an impressive 13.5 feet (4 m) in length, gave scientists a chance to study the elusive creature and its internal biology.

As well as examining its muscles, feeding apparatus and "jelly-like" bones, the scientists took a look at its reproductive system. There was no doubting the oarfish's sex once they'd discovered a pair of ovaries that were 7 feet (2.1 m) long and weighed 24 pounds (11 kg).

9. The Marine Monster

Photo: Fox News

Folly Beach in South Carolina was the site of an alarming discovery in 2012, when a bony-plated fish exceeding 10 feet in length was spotted on shore. The South Carolina Aquarium put speculation to rest by declaring it a sturgeon, a large bony fish with relatives dating back 350 million years—and which has been known to grow to be 500 pounds or more. Their eggs are often used for caviar, though presumably no one raided this one for a gourmet snack.

10. The Demon Dolphin

Photo: Siberian Times

Ravaged either by the sea or by some kind of enemy—or both—the rotting corpse of a mystery creature washed up on Sakhalin, an island in Russia, in 2015. Its elongated beak led to early suspicions it was a dolphin, but observers were quick to point out that dolphins don’t have fur. That could’ve been some kind of skin deterioration, but eyewitnesses also claimed to have seen what looked like paws on the specimen. The best bet was that it was a bottlenose whale calf. Before a definitive conclusion was reached, the body washed back out to sea.

Top 10 Most Intelligent Animals On Planet

There are a lot of beautiful animals on our planet, and some of them demonstrate extraordinary abilities. Check out the 10 most intelligent animals in ...