Carcass of mysterious enormous 'sea creature' washes ashore on Indonesian beach, leaving locals stumped!

Image courtesy: Pattimura Military Command/Facebook

New Delhi: Indonesian locals are taken aback by the carcass of what looks like a ginormous sea creature that seems to have washed ashore on Hulung Beach, in the west of Indonesia’s Serum Island.

As per reports, the sea animal's rotting corpse was discovered by 37-year-old local resident Asrul Tuanakota, who initially mistook the body for a stranded boat.

Photos and vidoes of the stranded sea creature have evidently gone viral and have the locals speculating its identity, with many deeming it to be a giant squid or a sperm whale.

Several videos posted by a local villager show the sea creature slowly disintegrating in the water, turning it a dark red – is it blood or something else? No one knows. From the images, the creature also seems to have tusks.

A group of marine scientists were reportedly scheduled to take samples of the creature on Thursday, according to Detik. Residents have since flocked to see the giant carcass, which was estimated to have died more than three days ago.

As per Mashable, a local military command is keeping watch on the carcass, while residents have asked authorities to help remove the remains so it doesn't contaminate the surrounding area.

Marcus Chua, a museum officer at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum told Mashable that the carcass appears to be that of a baleen whale, a subgroup of whales that include humpback whales and minke whales.

"[Based] on the images and videos, in the advanced stage of decomposition it is not possible to determine whether that is a humpback whale or not," Chua, who is also a curator of mammals and birds at the National University of Singapore-affiliated museum, added.

Check out some of the videos of the mysterious creature posted by locals:

(Video courtesy: Patasiwa Kumbang Amalatu)