NC_Rebel
07-03-2003, 06:49 AM
Giant Sea Creature Found in Chile
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20030702/s/1057176232.3959668823.jpg
Chilean scientists observe what may be a giant octopus that washed up on a chilean beach last week near Puerto Mont City (750 miles south from Santiago) in Chile, on July 1, 2003. Scientists said on Wednesday a huge mass of slimy flesh that washed up on a Chilean beach last week may be a rare type of giant octopus or just discarded whale blubber. European zoologists contacted by the Chileans to help identify the 40-foot-long (12-meter) piece of gelatinous tissue said it closely resembled descriptions of a bizarre specimen found in Florida in 1896 that was named 'octopus giganteus' and has confounded experts ever since. REUTERS/Jose Luis Saavedra
SANTIAGO, Chile - Fishermen found the 39-foot-long carcass of a sea creature on a beach in the south of Chile, and conservation specialists were trying to determine if it was an octopus.
The creature, believed to be of the species octopus giganteus, was found near Los Muermos, 683 miles south of Santiago.
The remains weigh about 13 tons.
Elsa Cabrera, of the Cetacean Conservation Center, said that similar animals have been found recently in New Zealand.
Cabrera, who is a specialist in submarine photography, took samples of the creature to send to Italy, France and the United States to determine its species.
The find was originally believed to be part of a whale, but its size, texture and even the smell point to an octopus.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=589&ncid=757&e=10&u=/ap/20030702/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/chile_sea_creature
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20030702/s/1057176232.3959668823.jpg
Chilean scientists observe what may be a giant octopus that washed up on a chilean beach last week near Puerto Mont City (750 miles south from Santiago) in Chile, on July 1, 2003. Scientists said on Wednesday a huge mass of slimy flesh that washed up on a Chilean beach last week may be a rare type of giant octopus or just discarded whale blubber. European zoologists contacted by the Chileans to help identify the 40-foot-long (12-meter) piece of gelatinous tissue said it closely resembled descriptions of a bizarre specimen found in Florida in 1896 that was named 'octopus giganteus' and has confounded experts ever since. REUTERS/Jose Luis Saavedra
SANTIAGO, Chile - Fishermen found the 39-foot-long carcass of a sea creature on a beach in the south of Chile, and conservation specialists were trying to determine if it was an octopus.
The creature, believed to be of the species octopus giganteus, was found near Los Muermos, 683 miles south of Santiago.
The remains weigh about 13 tons.
Elsa Cabrera, of the Cetacean Conservation Center, said that similar animals have been found recently in New Zealand.
Cabrera, who is a specialist in submarine photography, took samples of the creature to send to Italy, France and the United States to determine its species.
The find was originally believed to be part of a whale, but its size, texture and even the smell point to an octopus.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=589&ncid=757&e=10&u=/ap/20030702/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/chile_sea_creature