This Giant Rotting 'Globster' Washed Up on a Beach And Smelled 'Damn Awful'

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The deep ocean is brimming with terrifying creatures, but it's only on occasion that a rotting carcass will wash ashore and immediately be interpreted as a dark omen. This is what happened on a Philippine beach in Oriental Mindoro recently, when a globular, misshapen sea creature appeared on the sand, confounding locals.

The reportedly 20-foot carcass stunk like hell, with its white flesh baking in the Pacific Island heat. It also appeared to be covered in hair, which only fueled eerie rumination of it signifying something bad, according to an early report from The Sun. 'An earthquake is heading for Oriental Mindoro. The big globster is a sign of something bad coming. Please pray for us," local resident Tam Maling reportedly said.

The term "globster" might sound like it was coined on Twitter, but it's apparently been prevalent in marine biology circles since the 1960s, according to Atlas Obscura. It was devised by the Scottish biologist Ivan Terence Sanderson to "describe decomposing tissue, corpses, or other stranded dead animals that come ashore," the publication writes.

This particular globster isn't the first to wash ashore in a remote area of the world, stoking fear and mystery simultaneously. Last year, an enormous rotting carcass had a similar effect in Indonesia.

Without having run tests, experts in the Philipines have surmised that the most recent globster is probably a dead whale, and that the "hair" visible on the body is decaying muscle fiber.

Fishery Law Enforcement Officer Vox Krusada said: ''Today we just gathered a samples of it for further analysis.''For now we can say its a whale, but the exact species is still unknown. The tissue samples are now sent to our lab for DNA analysis."

Whether any of the foreboding vibes wafting from the rotting flesh actually bring bad things to fruition remains to be seen. But everyone's nostrils will surely be changed forever, as Krusada told The Sun: “The local government of Gloria will now bury the carcass. And damn it smells awful. It smells like something from another planet.”

Yikes.

[h/t The Sun, Atlas Obscura]

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Sam Blum is a News Staff Writer for Thrillist. He's also a martial arts and music nerd who appreciates a fine sandwich and cute dogs. Find his clips in The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The A.V. Club and Esquire. He's on Twitter @Blumnessmonster