The carcass of what many believed to be (and certainly appears as) a "sea monster" has turned out to likely be nothing more than that of a killer whale. The decomposed corpse of the so-called sea monster washed up on the shore of New Zealand's Pukehina Beach in the Bay of Plenty some weeks ago.

A video posting of the sea monster carcass appeared on YouTube Sunday, April 28 with the question, "Can anyone identify what this is?"

Now it seems that "what this is" is indeed an Orca whale that washed up approximately 3 miles from Pukehina, according to Sun Live.

"Stretching about 9 meters in length with large teeth and rudimentary flippers, the Orca had an uncanny resemblance to pre-historic creatures," Sun Live reports.

The rationale behind the sea monster having been identified as possibly being an erstwhile killer whale stems from the monster's fins and body structure that marine mammal expert Anton van Helden said resemble those of a killer whale.

GrindTV also suggests that the sea monster could likely have been a killer whale, as Orcas are commonly seen in the Bay of Plenty.

"[I]t's not the first time an animal's carcass has been mistaken for a monster," Discovery News adds. "In fact, New Zealand is one of the most common places in the world — along with Newfoundland, Canada and Florida — for such 'sea monsters' to appear."

Van Helden said that the remains of the sea monster or killer whale have already been washed back out to sea.

What are your thoughts on the sea monster? Do you think it looks like a killer whale or maybe something else entirely? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. 

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