A mysterious object that washed up on an Australian beach had TikTokers puzzled.
But what could have been a ‘mysterious sea creature’ was, in fact, just a whale penis.
The long, fleshy object was captured by TikTokker @bootscootinaf in the waters of North Queensland.
In a three-part series, the TikToker shows the beautiful views of the beach and crystal clear waters interrupted by a ‘giant random, animal part washed up on the beach’.
‘The Kraken lives!’ commented one TikTok user on the first video that garnered 4.4 million views.
Posting a better view of the object, she compares it to the ‘size of her leg’ and asked her followers what they thought it was.
However, biologists on TikTok were quick to point out that the mysterious object was just a standard whale cock.
‘With the help of TikTok and marine biologists, I think we have finally figured out what that weird animal thing is. It’s a whale dick,’ she said in part three of her whale penis series.
She went on to say that ‘apparently, the males fight and they bite each other’s things off and then they just wash up on beaches all around the world’.
However, this theory was debunked by wildlife scientist Dr Vanessa Pirotta on her TikTok.
She explained that while the waters were breeding grounds for humpback whales, these animals don’t have any teeth at all. Instead, they have long hair-like strands known as baleen.
‘And to bite another male whale’s penis off is something that is not have heard of.’
‘Now, if this is a male humpback whale penis, it’s very unlikely that it was bitten off by another humpback whale,’ said Pirotta.
She also cautioned that it’s not entirely certain that this was a whale penis without getting a better look from all angles.
It’s not the first time that whale penises have been mistaken for weird sea creatures.
In one of the more bizarre claims about Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster, one professor had suggested that it could just be a whale’s dick. He later backtracked on the claim as there are no whales whatsoever in Loch Ness.
Still, he stood by his theory that many sea monster stories come from whale dick spottings.
‘Many whales’ penises (from various species) were surely mistaken by tired and half-starved sailors around the world,’ he said.
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We all make mistakes…