Loch Ness Monster-like creature washes up on Georgia shore

Jeff Warren sent a photo of the creature to the Savannah Morning News with a note: "This isn't a joke."

When he found the carcass on the shore of Georgia's Wolf Island National Wildlife Refuge last week, he said, Warren first thought it a dead seal. But after photographing the remains of the sea creature that washed up upon the beach, he described it to station WJAX as a "Loch Ness-type thing."

Indeed, the body's long neck and small head reminded locals of the Altamaha-ha — Georgia's own version of the aquatic monster steeped in Southern lore. 

Warren spotted the creature during a boat ride with his son near Georgia's Barrier Islands, according to First Coast News. A large heron was pecking at its carcass, he said.

Marine experts don't know what to make of the photos and video captured by Warren, expressing skepticism alongside awe.

Chantal Audran of the Tybee Island Marine Science Center told the Morning News it looks "like a frilled shark."  Tara Cox, an associate professor of marine sciences at Savannah State University told the newspaper it may be a decomposing basking shark, which takes on a prehistoric shape as it rots.

Dwight Gale and George Gale, two seasoned shrimp boat captains, told First Coast that it could be a fish caught on a piece of wood, or perhaps a sturgeon shark.

"We see sturgeon sharks all the time that swim in groups along the top of the water that many people think is the Altamaha-ha," Dwight Gale told the station. 

Without further examination of the actual carcass, however, all of the above cautioned that they could not know for certain.

Follow Josh Hafner on Twitter: @joshhafner

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