Expert Says Beached 'Sea Monster' In Mexico Is Just The Head Of A Sperm Whale

On March 9, the Civil Protection and Firefighters Department in Acapulco received news of a mysterious 'sea monster' that had washed up on the resort city's beautiful Bonfil Beach. Measuring an impressive 13-feet (4 meters) in length the gray creature that resembles a giant blob with multiple layers of skin is unlike anything experts have encountered before. Hence, the massive animal has sparked the world's imagination.

Now an expert who has viewed the video the Mexican officials posted on the organization's Facebook page thinks that he may have identified the 'creature.' James Mead, curator emeritus of marine mammals at the National Museum of the Natural History in Washington D.C. believes the massive lump of saggy skin is the top half of the head of the world's largest species of the toothed whale - The sperm whale.

Mead says the mammal's head has two distinct areas. The top region, called the spermaceti organ contains a waxy liquid called spermaceti, which serves three functions. It allows the whale to swim into deep waters to hunt for prey and float back to the surface to breathe. The liquid also helps the whale with echolocation as well as communicate with other members of its species.

The bottom region which is known as 'the junk' has numerous compartments of spermaceti separated by fatty cartilaginous tissue. Mead believes that the 'creature' is the sperm whale's junk and the top part of its head minus the spermaceti organ.

Though marine experts in Acapulco have yet to confirm Mead's theory it does sound plausible — Sure takes away the fun from imagining that we may have stumbled upon a new scary sea monster, doesn't it?

Resources: Livescience.com, Dailymail.co.uk