VERY LIKE A WHALE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2357, 19 November 1921, Page 3

VERY LIKE A WHALE.

QUEER. CARCASE AT HOKIOI

Something of a sensation has been caused in Levin by the discovery of what appears to be an ununusual type of sen. monster on the Hokio beach, about two miles north of the Hyderabad wreck. The carcase is headless and tailess, and there has been rpiite excited discussion as to which is the end where the head ought to he. Speculation on the subject has been fruitful of a wide and highly-interesting variety of solution of the monster’s identity. These include an ingenious theory that the carcase is that of . a giant, brontosaurus, and lias been dead rpiite a considerable time —a matter of a few hundred thousand years —its present condition being a striking testimony to the value of cold storage in Nature’s refrigerator —the Antarctic. Less imaginative minds, however, can soar no higher than a commonplace guess at a whale! The Maoris and some white residents of Poroutnwhao declare that the carcase has been on the beach for at least five months, and that when it came asliore first, it was most certainly a whale, whatever it may be now. However, a close inspection of the interesting relic presents certain unusual features, and it is understood that expert evidence on the point is being obtained from scientists in Wellington. The remains of the monster are about 3fi feet long by 15 feet across the widest part, and it is estimated that when alive it must have measured between st) and 60 feet. It lies north by south on the beach, near high tide. The northern end tapers off to a thickness of not more than nine inches, while the southern extremity, which has been reduced by the action"of the sea and the attacks of fish to a shapeless mass of skin and blubber, is anything up to 30ft. in girth. There are three limb-like attachments visible, the largest being either a pair of legs or (he remains of gigantic fins, and so placed as lo have supported or propelled the body at its greatest girth. From one of these Mr W. lubman wrenched off what lie is convinced is the hock-hone of the lind-leg of this monster. It is a flatfish round bone, about 2flin. in diameter, and was joined on to the huge double thighbone, which is the most debated part of the carcase. From this hock-hone again there projected another short stout shin-bone, about ten inches long and seven inches thick at its narrowest part. When these hones were on the carcase they certainly gave the appearance of a gigantic hind leg, which may have finished off in a fin-like foot. The third appendage provides another puzzle. If is either a leg. fin or dapper —in appearance more like I lie last-named —and is attached to the body just where it tapers off to the neck—or the tail! It is about four feet long, and ten inches through, but. hears evidence of having been considerably longer.

The hide of the mammoth is very tough, and resists all but the sharpest instruments. It is curiously marked along the back with bars of black and orange, but close inspection of these suggest that they are not natural, hut have been produced by cither decay or erosion. Their evenness, however, is quite a remarkable feature, and some of those who have inspected them incline to the belief that they are natural.

When the argument as l<> the end where the head ought to he is solved, the identity of the monster should he easily established. Chronicle.

[ln conversation with a local fisherman with whaling experience, wc arc informed that the carcase was washed up about five months ago. He said it is a whale, and when washed up its fins were spread oul from which the flesh has subsequently decomposed, giving the stranded monster a. somewhat unusual appearance—Ed. ll.]