Top 11 weirdest sea creatures to be washed ashore in the USA and the world

People rarely see the strange creatures they sometimes throw out. on beach. These bizarre animals are reported by Live Science.

Photo: Shutterstock

The underwater world can be compared to watching a scene from a sci-fi movie filled with bizarre creatures who feel at home in their underwater alien world. Most of the time, these strange animals are kept in the dark ocean depths, but sometimes they are carried on land and this confuses beach lovers around the world. Here are some of the strangest creatures washed ashore in the past decade.

Giant squid

Giant squid (Architeuthis dux) for centuries he inspired the creation of myths and legends, but it is extremely rare to see him. These giant creatures are the largest invertebrates in the world and have the largest eyes in the animal kingdom. They live in deep water and are rarely thrown onto land.

But in October 2013, a monstrous giant squid was thrown onto a Spanish beach. The tentacled hippopotamus was 9 meters long and weighed 180 kilograms - about the same as an adult brown bear.

In 2020, an even larger giant squid was discovered in the Gulf of Britain, South Africa. The sample was surprisingly intact and was likely over 4m in length and weighing over 330kg, as Live Science previously reported.

Hairy monster

Residents of the eastern province of Mindoro in the Philippines were confused by the May 2018 appearance a huge hairy beast. Before the experts could examine and identify the body, the observers called the 6-meter carcass a "globster." As you would expect from a giant rotting sea creature, the smell was overwhelming. Scientists later explained that the spotted body was likely the remains of a whale, and that the strand-like hair that covered it was most likely decaying muscle fibers.

Sharks without organs

The South African coast was the scene of a watery detective investigation in May 2017 when three great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) washed ashore. The cryptic part? All of them lacked a liver, and one lacked a heart. Scientists performed autopsies on all three sharks, examining their injuries to determine the cause of death.

Their detective work identified the likely culprit: the killer whales. Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are known to attack other shark species and eat their organs, and shark injuries matched their skillful work. Liver is a particularly preferred snack for killer whales because it is rich in fats and nutrients.

Angler

In May 2021, a fisherman found the body of a deep-sea anglerfish (anglerfish) at Crystal Cove Park in California. It was a rare find, and also striking, as these fish usually hide in dark water at a depth of about 914 m. and they look a little creepy.

Park officials have determined that this is most likely a corpse Pacific footballfish (Himantolophus sagamius); Quite a light-hearted name for such a terrifying fish. The unusual appendage dangling from the fish's face ends with a bioluminescent light that anglers use to lure prey through the darkness into their waiting jaws.

Sea potatoes

Cornwall beaches in the UK are commonly associated with ice cream and seagulls, but in August 2018, beach lovers witnessed an amazing sight. Visitors to Penzance Beach have discovered that it is covered in tennis-ball-sized creatures fondly referred to as "heart hedgehogs" or "sea potatoes."

These hedgehogs are covered in short, yellow-brown thorns during life and spend their days burrowing several inches into the seabed in various countries, including the UK, Ireland and Japan. Experts believe that having them run aground is evidence that mass mating has gone wrong. The sea potatoes dare to emerge from their burrows to breed, but the storm may have killed both the mood and the loving hedgehogs.

On the subject: Fish with human teeth: an unusual catch in North Carolina

Paddle fish

In June 2015, a rare sight was seen on a beach on Catalina Island in California: a huge deep-sea paddlefish. As the name suggests, these fish tend to hide out of sight in deep water. This beached giant, an impressive 4m long, has given scientists the opportunity to study the elusive creature and its inner biology.

In addition to studying muscles, nutrition and jelly-like bones, scientists have studied the reproductive system. After they found a pair of ovaries 2,1 m long and 11 kg in doubt there was no gender.

Headless sea lions

The horrific and confusing sighting of several Steller's decapitated sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) on the shores of Vancouver Island in Canada in 2020 has stumped scientists. Between April and July, at least five headless sea lions were sighted, with the skulls of some lying next to the bodies. Marine mammal experts believed the decapitation was the work of humans, not hungry scavengers. Whether someone killed sea lions or chopped off their heads when they were already dead remains a mystery.

Penis fish

In 2019, the California beach has become an arena for the massive dumping of penis fish ashore. The plump, pink sea worm is 25 centimeters long and is also known as the fat tavern worm (Urechis caupo). The phallic shape of the worm is ideal for burrowing in the intertidal zone and for catching food with a mucous net.

This may just be the weirdest thing you've seen today!

Thousands of these marine worms, called fat innkeeper worms—or "penis fish"—washed up on Drake's Beach after a recent storm. ? But why? https://t.co/MwY6xkN3kb pic.twitter.com/vGMpSvGoAT

- Bay Nature magazine (@BayNature) December 11, 2019

Biologists suspected that the landfall was the result of a storm. Strong winds and waves can carry huge amounts of sand, open burrows, and hurl unsuspecting residents onto the beach.

"Glass"

Another massive landfall occurred along the west coast of the United States in 2014. The "glass creatures" turned out to be wind sailors. The structure, consisting of a colony of hundreds of small organisms, allows sailors to travel the waters of the open ocean.

The downside of a living sailboat is the tendency to get caught in a storm. Most likely, the winds threw the creatures directly onto the sand, where they left both a strange sight and a strong smell.

Lancet fish

In May 2014, visitors to Janette Pier in North Carolina came face to face with a scaleless fanged fish. They were especially scared when the fish turned out to be alive. It has been identified as the long-tailed lancet fish (Alepisaurus ferox), an unusual nocturnal predator that usually stays offshore. Large canines are used to eat crustaceans, squid and fish.

The stranded fish was released into deeper water, but later returned to the shore, presumably too sick to return to the sea.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

Unidentified monster

When a 2018-meter-long "sea monster" was thrown out in Maine in July 5, it was already so decayed that it was almost unrecognizable. One of the beach goers described it as a blob and called it "pretty nasty". Due to its enormous size, several people who saw the carcass believed that it was the remains of a whale. But experts were adamant that it was not a marine mammal; it was a giant shark, the second largest shark species on the planet. His body was so large that a bulldozer had to be called in to remove him from the beach.

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