A giant, hairy blob that washed ashore in the Philippines has baffled locals.
Some suggested it looked like a huge Shih Tzu, or even Appa, a fictional character from the animated TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender.
But now local scientists have identified the creature, revealing it’s a 20 foot long whale carcass weighing around 2,000 kilograms.
The whale appeared after a deadly earthquake struck the region on Sunday, causing a number of strange creatures to come ashore.
And it went viral after Marjorie Cabatingan Aboy posted a string of striking photos of the creature on Facebook. They have clocked more 100,000 shares.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources told the SunStar, a local paper, the body of the whale is already in the advanced stage of decomposition.
A Facebook post detailing the findings of the investigation revealed the municipality would preserve the bones of the whale as a memento.
“It is uncertain as to what particular whale species due to its advance decomposition,” the statement added.
It’s the second time this month that an unusual sea creature has washed ashore in the area. A few weeks back, locals posted photos of a dead oarfish, a species rarely seen near the coast.