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Science

What Is the Monster-Like Creature that Washed Up on This S. Carolina Beach?

Mar. 27, 2012 9:01am

When South Carolina residents near Folly Beach found a large, yellowish creature with plates and spiny projections washed up on shore, they were quick to label it an unusual sea monster.

Sea Monster: Atlantic Sturgeon Washes Up on South Carolina Beach

You may be inclined to say this sea monster has large scales, but they are really large plates called "scutes". (Photo: Live 5/Facebook)

But before imaginations got out of hand, a local veterinarian from the South Carolina Aquarium came forward with a more reasonable explanation for what should still be considered a rare find. Live 5 reports it was identified as an Atlantic sturgeon.

According to KSEE 24, Atlantic sturgeon can grow to be as large as 15 feet long and 800 pounds. NOAA’s description of Atlantic sturgeon states they are generally “bluish-black or olive brown dorsally (on their back) with paler sides and a white belly,” suggesting we are seeing the underside of this fish — or it may have been dead for a while.

Here are some pictures of live Atlantic sturgeon:

Sea Monster: Atlantic Sturgeon Washes Up on South Carolina Beach

(Photo: Virginia Institute of Marine Science)

Sea Monster: Atlantic Sturgeon Washes Up on South Carolina Beach

(Photo: Coastal Fisheries Reform Group)

Here’s some cloudy footage of the pre-historic creature:

This species, some say, has been swimming the seas for 100 million years but its population is dwindling. As of 2009, five populations of Atlantic sturgeon were listed on the endangered species list.

The Atlantic variety is one of 26 species in the family Acipenseridae. Sturgeon can be found in estuaries with few ever venturing out into open ocean and some are exclusively freshwater. In fact, some of the northern and Midwestern states are well-known for river and lake sturgeon fishing. Wisconsin, for example, has a strong sturgeon fishing season with times for both traditional fishing as well as spear fishing. The 2012 spear fishing season in Wisconsin wrapped up on Feb. 26. this year. In Winnebago, Wisc., according to the Department of Natural Resources, the 10 days allowed for winter spear fishing brings in about $3.5 million to the area. According to reports, this past season yielded fewer catches than the previous year.

[H/T AOL Paw Nation]

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Comments (150)

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  • Sharkim24
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:50am

    My dad, William P. Casper, founded the group , Sturgeon for Tomorrow, in the late 1970′s in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He is 81 years young and still an avid sturgeon spearer!

    Report this comment

    Sharkim24  
    • riseandshine
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 1:51pm

      Good for him. May he spear for 10 more years. Congrats.

      Report this comment

      riseandshine  
    • db321
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 4:27pm

      Your right very cloudy video of the one that was swimming – can we see a better video of the one on the beach – surely somebody around there has a cell phone. One photo of the one on the Beach and a cloudy one under water!

      Report this comment

      db321  
    • BarackStalin
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 6:41pm

      I enjoy the literature of Theodore Sturgeon…

      and I love his famous quote, “Ninety percent of science fiction is crud, but then, ninety percent of everything is crud.”

      Report this comment

      BarackStalin  
    • poorrichard09
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 7:31pm

      Oh, thank God. I thought it was Helen Thomas!

      Report this comment

      poorrichard09  
    • Observer
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:02pm

      Sharkim24
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:50am

      My dad, William P. Casper, founded the group , Sturgeon for Tomorrow, in the late 1970′s in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He is 81 years young and still an avid sturgeon spearer! Say I wonder if he is the same Bill Casper that I meet at Lake Winnebago when we were doing a Ducks Unlimited project in 1980. We were cleaning up a marsh area to replant and met quite a few of the locals at a fish fry. Stayed at a place in Long Point. That name sure rings a bell …….. hum ………. must ponder.

      Report this comment

      Observer  
    • RJohnson
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:59pm

      I see a similar looking critter crawling across my bath room floor, as I’m taking a late night pee. Now, for sure, I’ll have to call Orkin..

      Report this comment

      RJohnson  
    • thinkingright
      Posted on March 28, 2012 at 7:49am

      I spent many summers at a cabin on Wisconsin river. Outdoor plumbing until the last couple years. I remember finding old pictures in an abondoned home of guys standing on 8′ step ladders holding these fish! And we swam in those waters. Great memories, thanks for sharing.

      Report this comment

      thinkingright  
  • chips1
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:34am

    ” If I had a son, he would look like this”. OBAMA

    chips1  
  • krispy01
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:33am

    Hey, you’re crazy! A sturgeon, he’s a doctor cuts you open whena you sick. Now I give you one more chance.

    Report this comment

    krispy01  
  • OklahomaBound
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:31am

    Looks like a yelowish worn truck tire.

    Report this comment

    OklahomaBound  
  • felix
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:30am

    listed on the endangered species list – LOL – so some liberal fool swam the atlantic depths and counted them , ya just cant make this **** up – wait,yes ya can.

    Report this comment

    felix  
  • Teabunny
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:24am

    WAIT! Maybe its Arlin Specter …method acting!!!???

    Report this comment

    Teabunny  
  • Teabunny
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:20am

    Any of you ever hear of the Montauk monster??? http://www.montauk-monster.com/ (like I said…Plum island animal research facility! Love it!)

    Report this comment

    Teabunny  
  • Teabunny
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:16am

    How can Obama secure our borders!? He can’t even secure Plum Island! Love it! not only commies banksters, and radicals…but monsters too??? whats next? the Antichrist! LOL (G’morning Fellas!)

    Report this comment

    Teabunny  
    • kiddopup
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 1:32pm

      That anti christ thing may be more profound than you think one european country{switzirland] has banned money for all transactions you have to have a number source finacial times

      Report this comment

      kiddopup  
  • qpwillie
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:11am

    It would take a hundred pound bag of cornmeal just to make enough hushpuppies to go with that thing. …Not to even mention how much lard it would take to fry him.

    Report this comment

    qpwillie  
  • brntout
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:08am

    Maybe the first victim of Michell’s ‘Let’s Move’ program for undersea life.

    Report this comment

    brntout  
  • Tom K
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:07am

    Sturgeon are ancient fish that have been here since God our Heavenly Father created it ALL; about 7,000 years ago. These, some say unattractive, fish yield caviare. Oh, CONSERVATIVEJON; Excellant Post !

    Report this comment

    Tom K  
    • AOL_REFUGEE
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:12am

      Whew. I thought it was Rosie O’Donnel, distraught over her show being cancelled.

      Report this comment

      AOL_REFUGEE  
  • RedDawn2012
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:02am

    Best fish I ever ate was smoked sturgeon in a little Iowa town on the Mississippi back in the 50′s. Yum!

    Report this comment

    RedDawn2012  
  • semihardrock
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:56am

    Discovery Channel Homicide Unit claims “it could be caused by Florida’s Stand on Ground Gun Law” which may have accidentally killed the fish…..from trying to Stand on Ground.

    Senator Chuck Schumer (D) from NYC claims that the DOE who “scooled” the fish is liable and may unintentionally killed the fish…News at 11:00

    Report this comment

    semihardrock  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:29am

    .
    Nothing to see here people, that’s what I threw up after reading the Army Gay Pride Week Story……

    Report this comment

    SpankDaMonkey  
  • ZABO
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:29am

    i heard the current first lady has the same smell in the morning!

    Report this comment

    ZABO  
  • scruffycat
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:27am

    Out here in the west you can go inside of a lot of dams and you can go down into the Observation Room that is darkened, dampish, has a feeling of pressure, but they have hugely wide glassed walls that allow you to see right into the side of the Fish Ladder where fish are swimming upstream over the dam by going against the flow that is coming over the Fish Ladder. You will see all these smaller fish crusing around, then you will see the medium sized fish like trout and salmon swimming around, and if you are lucky and you are there observing on a day that a Sturgeon is going over the Ladder, wow, they are like this giant behemouth fish submarine moving through, dwarfing in size any kids that might be watching through the glass, scaring the small fish, creating massive turbulance in the rushing waters of the ladder. Pretty neat.

    Report this comment

    scruffycat  
    • ishka4me
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:35am

      if any of you have fished the Maine waters for cod or haddock, every so often a wolf fish is caught. The first time you see one you think it is a sci-fi prop. look up a picture of wolf fish.

      Report this comment

      ishka4me  
  • SoupSandwich
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:27am

    That is just a Kagan bath toy.

    Report this comment

    SoupSandwich  
  • Msgt Ret
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:23am

    My first thought was thank God, George Soros has drown!

    Report this comment

    Msgt Ret  
    • hi
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:43am

      But who would get all of his money? Obama?

      Report this comment

      hi  
  • AudreyTheProvocative
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:23am

    Hardly a “sea monster,” the fish creature that washed up ashore in South Carolina is very interesting, especially considering that I enjoy marine biology. Perhaps if people stopped hunting the Atlantic sturgeon almost exclusively for caviare and allowing pollution to danger the waters, this fish species might not be an endangered species today.

    Report this comment

    AudreyTheProvocative  
    • trolltrainer
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:31am

      AudreyTheProvocative
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:23am

      …especially considering that I enjoy marine biology.
      ————————————————————————————–
      Ah! You watch Discover Channel!

      Report this comment

      trolltrainer  
    • RJJinGadsden
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:04am

      I like marine biologicals too. On a plate with tartar sauce, fries, and hush puppies.

      Report this comment

      RJJinGadsden  
    • AudreyTheProvocative
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:41am

      Simply because I enjoy marine biology does not mean that I watch the Discovery Channel. However, I do study zoology in school.

      Report this comment

      AudreyTheProvocative  
    • trolltrainer
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:01am

      I am sorry Audry, I shouldn’t poke fun at your hobby. I am an amateur gynecologist myself, though I have no formal training. I just sort of pick it up as I go…

      Report this comment

      trolltrainer  
    • wolverine
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:04am

      In the first place it isn’t caviar unless it comes from Russia it’s just fish eggs

      Report this comment

      wolverine  
    • AmazingGrace8
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:54am

      You would have had another “like-minded-individual” on your side, however, unfortunately for him, he won a game of poker & got a ticket on the Titantic…..
      “Caviare, Sir?”
      “No Thanks”. “Never liked it much”.

      Report this comment

      AmazingGrace8  
  • SamIamTwo
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:22am

    well the first one is a large WA state slug that tends to migrate.

    Report this comment

    SamIamTwo  
  • conservativejon
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:18am

    i think its a gay\lesbin trans-gender mother\father of 3 adopted poverty stricken children that is a result of man-made climate change. we should have the EPA look into emissions of hydrofracking thats going on, on the north carolina coastline. no matter what it is, its Bush’s fault.

    Report this comment

    conservativejon  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:16am

    I don’t know what it is, but it smells like an Occupy Wallstreeter.

    Report this comment

    Gonzo  
  • kickagrandma
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:10am

    I erased my comments, and I’m sorry because you all would have been laughing sooooooo hard. But, I thought it better not to say the first thing that popped to my mind…. oh, man, this self-control is tough!

    Report this comment

    kickagrandma  
    • conservativejon
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:22am

      throw it up man. No-Fear.

      Report this comment

      conservativejon  
    • scruffycat
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:54am

      Yeah really, just post it. I’ve had about 4 posts killed by somebody in the last 3 days. It doesn’t hurt a bit. Just keep posting and sooner or later what you have to say will slip through the censors here. The advertisers that support this site might get Boycotted, but maybe what you say will get out anyway. The truth is the truth. Here you get all the truth that the advertisers will support. All the truth that supports the sale of their product and no more.

      Report this comment

      scruffycat  
  • SquidVetOhio
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:09am

    “This species, some say, has been swimming the seas for 100 million years but its population is dwindling.”

    Cue the obligatory evolution reference. Sigh…..

    Report this comment

    SquidVetOhio  
    • trolltrainer
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:29am

      100 million years and yet it has not evolved?

      Hmmmm…Smells fishy to me…

      Report this comment

      trolltrainer  
    • Cesium
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 6:18pm

      @trolltrainer… yea it’s fishly because you’re totally uneducated about evolution. your comment is absolutely hilarious to biologists. Stay away from the classroom, and keep pluck’n the yer banje

      Report this comment

      Cesium  
    • trolltrainer
      Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:27pm

      Hey cesspool, my old friend!

      You are big on mouth but no explanation? Educate me my man(?)! How is it that we have so many animals that are identical to animals that are supposedly hundreds of millions of years old yet others of like kind have drastically evolved into totally different animals?

      No…You can’t…Evo science is stuck…

      Report this comment

      trolltrainer  
    • Cesium
      Posted on March 28, 2012 at 2:56pm

      @Troll de defacto… I don’t have the time for this here but to answer your question. The mechanisms for evolution are written in terms the non-evolutionary biologist can understand in these books.. but I don’t expect you to do no read’n of any o dems sciency books now.. specially cause if’n they written by a couple o dumbass atheist academics like types whose is certainly dumberr than yoos folks… and way less educated. .. I recommend “Darwins Dangerous Idea” as a detailed and algorithmic explanation of the mechanisms of evolution, And “The Greatest Show on Earth” as a reference cited tome of research showing evidence for Evolution.
      http://www.amazon.com/DARWINS-DANGEROUS-IDEA-EVOLUTION-MEANINGS/dp/068482471X

      http://www.amazon.com/The-Greatest-Show-Earth-Evolution/dp/B004AYCWY4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332960764&sr=1-1

      Report this comment

      Cesium  
    • Cesium
      Posted on March 28, 2012 at 2:56pm

      @Troll de defacto… I don’t have the time for this here but to answer your question. The mechanisms for evolution are written in terms the non-evolutionary biologist can understand in these books.. but I don’t expect you to do no read’n of any o dems sciency books now.. specially cause if’n they written by a couple o dumbass atheist academics like types whose is certainly dumberr than yoos folks… and way less educated. .. I recommend “Darwins Dangerous Idea” as a detailed and algorithmic explanation of the mechanisms of evolution, And “The Greatest Show on Earth” as a reference cited tome of research showing evidence for Evolution.
      http://www.amazon.com/DARWINS-DANGEROUS-IDEA-EVOLUTION-MEANINGS/dp/068482471X

      http://www.amazon.com/The-Greatest-Show-Earth-Evolution/dp/B004AYCWY4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332960764&sr=1-1

      Report this comment

      Cesium  
    • trolltrainer
      Posted on March 28, 2012 at 5:09pm

      No answer, huh? Heh…

      It was a simple question Einstein, since you are so book smart there it should not be hard to give me a satisfactory, condensed answer; one a simple ole hick like me would understand…

      Why would some species remain unchanged for hundreds of MILLIONS of years yet others supposedly changed drastically in a fraction of that time. Scales to feathers, limbs to flippers…

      Maybe certain species just didn’t feel like evolving?

      Report this comment

      trolltrainer  
    • Cesium
      Posted on March 28, 2012 at 5:33pm

      Look bro, I am right now, as we speak, writing my PhD dissertation.. Once and a while I’ll check the Blaze as a procrastinatory habit, and although a lot of the commentors on here are as dense as a neutron star, I respect the candid and courageous reporting of the Blaze journalists. I have no time to break down evolution, discuss the fossicular and molecular evidence or go quote mining for you. So I will answer your question in 2 phrases…. “Lack of Selective Pressure” and “Evolutionary Fitness.” Another very successful species that has not evolutionary adapted to the many changes in environment in over a million years is the cockroach.. I’m sure there are orthers. I am not an Evolutionary Biologist, I am a Molecular Biologist in Medical Research. My focus is aligned with pathological processes.

      Report this comment

      Cesium  
    • trolltrainer
      Posted on March 28, 2012 at 7:02pm

      Neither of those arguments hold up. Not when you are talking about an elapsed time of hundreds of millions of years. Why would one species be content to swim in the ocean but others be forced up on land? Makes no sense. In the span of time we are talking, if evolution were true, every species would evolve. Maybe not at the same rate or to the same extent, but there would have to be some change. Likewise, you cannot posit evolutionary fitness on any species. Not when you have everything from single celled organisms to complex animals that remain unchanged. Yet you theorize that other animals, living side by side with the unchanged ones, have evolved from one species to another.

      PhD huh? Amazing how stupid some of you guys are. You cannot show anything evolving yet you have nothing else to fall back on. So you support a fairy tale that can be proven to be wrong at every turn. Then try to claim intellectual superiority to try and protect your own inadequate position. But your theory is so full of holes any inner-city high school kid could defeat it,

      No, try again. How is it some species (a great many actually) have remained completely unchanged while others have evolved from amoeba to PhD student?

      Report this comment

      trolltrainer  
    • Cesium
      Posted on March 28, 2012 at 9:28pm

      @Troll.. I told you read some books…. You don’t get it. It dose not have to be the case that every species, (after speciation) evolves at the same rate as others…it depends on atributes that are susceptible to the selective pressure of the environment. Sharks are a good example too..very successful for millions of years. Like the molecules that comprise us, some are more stable than others.. same is true for a particular species.. We can hardly keep the Panda alive in the wild anymore…Not every chromosome undergoes evolution at the same rate either within a species… I seriously don’t have time to drone on here. I’ve done it in the past.. it takes up too much of my time right now… Since I know you folks don’t like to read books written by legitimate scientists in their field..even if they’re heathen atheists, here’s a video about the increased mutation rate of the Y chromosome compared to other chromosomes… http://forum-network.org/lecture/evolution-sex-rethinking-y-chromosome

      Report this comment

      Cesium  
  • brntout
    Posted on March 27, 2012 at 9:06am

    Imagine what will wash ashore if Cass Sunstein has control of the waterways.

    Report this comment

    brntout  
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