1977 - A decayed carcass accidentally came across a Japanese trawler near New Zealand. The carcass was said to be a plesiosaur or prehistoric "sea-monster."Plesiosaurs were a group of long-necked, predatory marine reptiles with four paddle-like limbs, thought to have gone extinct with the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago.
The fishing vessel named the Zuiyo-maru of the Taiyo Fishery Company Ltd. was trawling for mackerel about 30 miles east of Christchurch, New Zealand when they netted a large animal carcass became entangled in its nets at a depth of about 300 meters. As the massive creature, weighing about 4000 pounds, was drawn toward the ship and then hoisted above the deck, assistant production manager Michihiko Yano announced to the captain Akira Tanaka, "It's a rotten whale!"
However as they looked closer to the carcass, some speculated that it might be a giant turtle with the shell peeled off. However, no one can identify which type of animal the netted creature was. When Yano returned to Japan, he immediately had the captured photos developed in the fishery's darkroom. The company executives were shocked yet fascinated with the photos, some of which did appear to show an unusual animal with a long neck and small head. Since then, the creature was handed to scientists for further investigation regarding its existence. The horny fibers sampled from the carcass were rigid, needle-like structures that tapered toward both ends and had a translucent light-brown color. Such features are characteristic of ceratotrichia, the cartilaginous fibers of shark fin rays. It was found that the carcass fibers and known ceratotrichia from a basking shark which resembled each other remarkably. Summarizing the findings, the conclusion was made:
"Based on available evidence, we are convinced that this New Zealand creature is not the "New Nessie," that much of the world was hoping for, but more than likely a carcass belonging to a large size shark."
Despite the said findings, there are still researchers that debunks the said study. They firmly believe that the creature was indeed a sea monster and further experimentation would lead them to that conclusion. Another intriguing question remains to be unanswered would be,