That Terrifying Dead Sea Monster Has Been Identified As A Baleen Whale

Update: Three marine experts told HuffPost that the creature is almost certainly a baleen whale. "Giant squid are invertebrates and there are clearly bones visible (jaw, skull, vertebrae) so I am very comfortable saying it's some type of rorqual whale," said one. So that's one mystery solved — but we still don't know what the hell happened to it to make it look like that.

Original post: The corpse of an enormous, mysterious sea creature has washed up on the shores of Indonesia's Seram Island. It was discovered on Tuesday evening by a local man who originally mistook it for a boat, according to the Jakarta Globe. Videos taken by locals show the creature's decomposing flesh and the bloodied waters surrounding its body. 

According to a translation by Vice, the narrator in this Facebook video posted by the Indonesian Army calls the creature a giant squid and estimates its length at 15 meters.

In a video posted by a YouTube account called Patasiwa Kumbang Amalatu, however, a different man declares that the beast is probably a whale. "This is a humpback whale," says the man (again, according to Vice's translation). "These aren't tusks. This is its mouth, but it's covered with decomposed skin."

Patasiwa Kumbang Amalatu has posted additional videos this week shot from different angles and at different times of day. They are all absolutely horrifying.

According to the Australian news site news.com.au, "Lab tests are underway to confirm the species."