Claim:   Photograph shows an unusual animal carcass found on a beach in Montauk, New York.

Status:   Undetermined.

Example:   [Collected via e-mail, July 2008]

People say that this monster washed up ashore in Montauk, NY. Some say it’s real others say it’s just another fake picture.

Origins:   The so-called "Montauk Monster" is a carcass that was supposedly found and photographed by three women on 13 July 2008 in front of the Surfside restaurant on a beach in Montauk, New York (on the South Shore of Long Island). The image of the "monster" has provoked much debate over whether the creature photographed is a concocted hoax or a real animal, and if the latter, exactly what kind of animal it might be. Various laymen and animal experts have tried their hand at examining the photograph and determining what it depicts, and as yet there seems to be no consensus on the matter.

For example, Newsday reported the opinion of William Wise, director of Stony Brook University's Living Marine Resources Institute:

William Wise, director of Stony Brook University's Living Marine Resources Institute, after looking at the photo and consulting with a fellow biologist (who knows land creatures), disagrees [that it's a dog].

He knows what it isn't.

A raccoon. ("The legs appear to be too long in proportion to the body.")

A sea turtle. ("Sea turtles do not have teeth.")

A rodent. ("Rodents have two huge, curved incisor teeth in front of their mouths.")

He said the general body shape looks like a dog or other canine ("Coyote?"). But that the "prominent eye ridge and the feet" don't match.

He said the feet and face look "somewhat ovine" — that would be like a sheep — but sheep don't have sharp teeth.

Wise's best, educated guess: "A talented someone who got very creative with latex."

But Wise also offered what he called a next-best guess: "A dog or coyote that was diseased and has been in the sea for a while."

Others asserted that the creature was in fact a raccoon, however:

[Montauk local Noel Arikian said,] "In photos there appeared to be a beak. It was just a tricky angle. It's a dead raccoon. That's what it is. It's undoubtedly a raccoon, the same teeth, paws, the right size."

Larry Penny, East Hampton's director of natural resources, agreed and added that when raccoons get old they wander off to marshes to die. High tide might have floated one out of a marsh and into the sea."

"No other animal has a body like that," Mr. Arikian said.

For now, the Montauk Monster is reportedly rotting in the backyard of a local resident who remains unidentified by the creature's finders.

Last updated:   31 July 2008

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  Sources:

    Brown, Joye.   "The Montauk Monster: Legend or Latex?"

    [New York] Newsday.   31 July 2008.

    Drumm, Russell.   "What on Earth Washed Up in Montauk?"

    The East Hampton Star.   30 July 2008.