Talk:Trunko

There was also supposed to be a story from China about a Trunko like carcass that washed up on a beach there recently.

Link: http://www.china.org.cn/english/Life/136739.htm

Sounds like it might have been an albino elephant seal. Gentaur 19:41, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

I've considered that, but elephant seals are much too small to account for the 47-foot carcass. It might be a much larger relative thereof, but then you'd wonder why we haven't seen these more often. Kryptid

In all honesty, when I created this article, I did not know the actual source of much of the information. That is, many of the details regarding Trunko and its battle were pulled from other cryptozoology websites that did not (to my knowledge) cite the "The Daily Mail" as its source. The only information that I am reasonably sure came from "The Daily Mail" are the dates and the statement of Trunko as being a white-furred "fish". That information in particular came from the hypertext version of Charles Forte's "Lo!". Many of the details, such as the battle with the whales, the dimensions of the carcass, and the mention of the trunk and lobster-like tail were taken from other cryptozoology websites and may, in fact, not have been mentioned in the "The Daily Mail". Can anyone confirm exactly what "The Daily Mail" had to say (or didn't say)? Kryptid

Basking shark?
I can't explain it being seen alive, but the carcass is a near-perfect description of a decayed basking shark (the gills and flesh of the head fall off leaving a long "neck" or "trunk", the muscle fibers become "fur"). The carcasses are sometimes called pseudoplesiosaurs because they have sometimes been mistaken for plesiosaurs by cryptozoologists.


 * This would be a far more convincing explanation if the creature hadn't first been seen, apparently alive, doing battle with orcas. Also, the one reported by the Pennsylvania newspaper (where was this sighting?  The town where that newspaper is located is in southwestern Pennsylvania, far from from the coast) was reported to have swam off again, after seemingly recuperating on the beach.KevinOKeeffe (talk) 14:13, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Photograph
Karl Shuker has recently posted a purported photograph of the carcass on his blog. His conclusion - dead whale (no real surprise there).71.161.233.214 (talk) 02:30, 7 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Here is an interview with Hemmler. Dysmorodrepanis (talk) 23:46, 4 March 2011 (UTC)