Talk:A plesiosaur was found by a Japanese trawler

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Counterargument

A deleted counterargument from the article: "The argument that this particular specimen is a basking shark is as probable as saying it's the carcass of an elephant in advanced state of decomposition. The 'flippers' are twice as long as they could possibly be on a basking shark. The basking shark argument is used every single time an unknown species is encountered at sea. The argument has by now become embarrassing as it seems to flaunt the ignorance of so called scientists to marine biology. ALL fishermen on the trawler agreed it was nothing like a shark at all and these are experienced seamen well acquainted with sea life). It is therefore most probably an unknown species possibly related to the plesiosaur who dominated the seas for millions of years as the top predator. This doensn't discredit evolutionism but does discredit a scientific community who by now have become as blind as creationists are dogmatic."

Of course it is nothing like a shark after the mouth has rotted away. Rotted basking sharks are well-known to some biologists (but not to every fisherman in the world, and not to you, obviously) and they look more like plesiosaurs than like sharks. The dogmatism accusation is probably the most common weapon of pseudoscientists. --tk (t) 11:02, 30 Dec 2005 (GMT)

Stronsa Monster

Has anyone have any information about the legendary "Stronsa Monster" of the Orkney Islands? According to this cute kid's book, "Giant Sea Creatures Real and Fantastic," by John F. Waters, it was seen washed up on the coast of the island of Stronsa in the year 1808, and the 55 foot long carcass was described having a small head with a long, thin neck, a bristly mane that went down its back and down to its long, think tail, and having at least 6 paws. Later, some scientists examined some of the monster's vertebrae, and found them to be composed solely of cartilage, leading them to say that it was an unusually basking shark. The Japanese trawler plesiosaur carcass sounds very much like this, except that the crew threw their carcass overboard, rather than save it to be examined. User:Apokryltaros

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I removed this post by an idiot anonymous poster:

"[Quote]From the description, the corpse (which was thrown overboard due to its unbearable stench) was very probably that of a basking shark that had died and decayed, with the lower jaw preferentially rotting off first, thus exposing the braincase, leaving the suggestion of a long-necked head. This is a common feature of basking shark carcasses.[Quote]

Who els thinks this is kinda..... uuhhh??? who do you say that....

I found a dead dog but because the bones in its nose completely desolved i realy think its a elephant!"

Obviously, the poster can not hope to wrap his thick little head around the fact that the appearances and features of dog skulls and elephant skulls are distinct enough to be recognized as being skulls of dogs or elephants, with no way of mistaking either for either.--Mr A. 16:50, 17 August 2006 (BST)