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SEA MONSTERS!

#1

Cajungal

Cajungal

This is... freakin awesome.

BBC News - 'Sea monster' whale fossil unearthed

Researchers have discovered the fossilised remains of an ancient whale with huge, fearsome teeth.

Writing in the journal Nature, the scientists have dubbed the 12 million-year-old creature "Leviathan".

It is thought to have been more than 17m long, and might have engaged in fierce battles with other giant sea creatures from the time.

Leviathan was much like the modern sperm whale in terms of size and appearance.
Click to expand...
There is a BAD ASS picture on the page!


#2

Jay

Jay



#3

Calleja

Calleja

Oh come on, they're calling it Leviathan when it's the size of a sperm whale? I mean, I know that's BIG, but it's not even Blue Whale big... certainly not LEVIATHAN BIG.


#4

Cajungal

Cajungal

Did you look at the picture?! It's cool!


#5

checkeredhat

checkeredhat

I too am disappointed in the relatively small size of this new whale. By whale standards I mean. And by prehistoric standards, you expect it to be even bigger.

I was hoping for something that would be to Megalodon as a Sperm Whale is to a Great White.


#6

Cajungal

Cajungal

Y'all have no appreciation for the discovery of something that is essentially Monstro from Pinocchio.


#7

Calleja

Calleja

dude, monstro in pinoccio was described like a KILOMETER LONG.. that's like... 10 blue whales. So, like, 20 of these leviathan things?


#8

Cajungal

Cajungal

But he's as mean as Monstro was.


#9

Calleja

Calleja

Killer Whales/Orcas are much, much meaner. Believe me.


#10

Cajungal

Cajungal

....I just think whales are cool.


#11

ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Well, screw you, guys. I think it looks damn cool and badass.


#12



Wasabi Poptart

Wow!


#13

Cajungal

Cajungal

^_^ Yaaaay, it IS cool. My enthusiasm is validated!

I admit it's not as cool as if it was bigger or something, but I love learning new stuff about big ocean creatures. So cool.


#14



Zarvox

This is some of the worst science reporting I've seen in a long-ass time. They describe the skull as being 3m long, which would make the 'prey' whale in the picture about 5m. That's the size of a Beluga whale, not a baleen whale like the one in the picture. Which means that the picture is a load of bunk, making you think leviathan is some big momma, instead of being about the size of a bus and a half. Then they go on to talk about the behavior of the dead whale - behavior doesn't fossilize. They're talking out their asses. Plus some of the inanities at the end are infuriating. They're all whale experts? What a shocker, whale experts publishing a paper about whales. I would have thought for sure they'd be economists, not whale experts.

But what really gets me is that they stole the name Leviathan. In ten years, when we discover something really awesome, that totally deserves the name, and they won't be able to use it, because it was taken.


#15

sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

Leviathan melvillei, named for Melville. Kinda cool.

Giant predatory whale named for 'Moby Dick' author - Yahoo! News


#16

ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Cajungal said:
I admit it's not as cool as if it was bigger or something
Click to expand...
Sounds like my prom night?


#17

Cajungal

Cajungal

ThatNickGuy;408450][QUOTE=Cajungal said:
I admit it's not as cool as if it was bigger or something
Click to expand...
Sounds like my prom night?[/QUOTE]

Nick, you.... :hug: I love you.


#18

Gusto

Gusto



#19

Hylian

Hylian

I for one welcome our (probably) extinct sea monster overlords


#20

Calleja

Calleja

I always liked Bartleby the Scrivener better.


#21

Cajungal

Cajungal

"I would prefer not to." :) Great story.


#22



Philosopher B.

I found a sea monster just the other day ... in my pants. :smug:

I told it to go away and leave me alone. :Leyla:


#23

drawn_inward

drawn_inward

We're gonna need a bigger boat!


#24

Cajungal

Cajungal

A bigger boat that's fucking-large-frightening-teeth-proof.


#25

drawn_inward

drawn_inward

Cajungal said:
A bigger boat that's fucking-large-frightening-teeth-proof.
Click to expand...
I want to stop hearing about the possible giant, swallow-you-whole monsters that could be lurking out in the ocean. I already hear the Jaws theme when I get in deep-end of the pool.


#26

Hylian

Hylian



#27



Philosopher B.

OHSHEET.


#28

drawn_inward

drawn_inward

Hylian! :'(

That's it. Not getting in the tub tonight either. I may not be able to wash the dishes either.


#29

Cajungal

Cajungal

drawn_inward said:
Hylian! :'(

That's it. Not getting in the tub tonight either. I may not be able to wash the dishes either.
Click to expand...
Anyone want a glass of suspicious-looking water??


#30

drawn_inward

drawn_inward

Cajungal;408591][QUOTE=drawn_inward said:
Hylian! :'(

That's it. Not getting in the tub tonight either. I may not be able to wash the dishes either.
Click to expand...
Anyone want a glass of suspicious-looking water??[/QUOTE]

:rip:


#31



Philosopher B.

I actually caught a shark once. A tiny little bastard.


#32

IronBrig4

IronBrig4

Avast! To your stations and run out the guns! Here be monsters!


#33

General Specific

General Specific

Zarvox said:
This is some of the worst science reporting I've seen in a long-ass time. They describe the skull as being 3m long, which would make the 'prey' whale in the picture about 5m. That's the size of a Beluga whale, not a baleen whale like the one in the picture. Which means that the picture is a load of bunk, making you think leviathan is some big momma, instead of being about the size of a bus and a half. Then they go on to talk about the behavior of the dead whale - behavior doesn't fossilize. They're talking out their asses. Plus some of the inanities at the end are infuriating. They're all whale experts? What a shocker, whale experts publishing a paper about whales. I would have thought for sure they'd be economists, not whale experts.

But what really gets me is that they stole the name Leviathan. In ten years, when we discover something really awesome, that totally deserves the name, and they won't be able to use it, because it was taken.
Click to expand...


#34

Allen who is Quiet

Allen, who is Quiet

I can't see monsters!


#35

bhamv3

bhamv3

I remember when I went scuba diving in Thailand, my instructor suddenly stopped me, wrote on his pad "school of barracuda" and pointed above us.

Now, having learned from popular culture that barracuda are predatory fish that are just below sharks in the underwater oh-shit scale, I immediately whirled around and stared upwards and saw these itsy bitsy six inch fish that were far more scared of me than I was of them. To be fair, though, there were more of them than there was of me.


#36

Calleja

Calleja

If I'm not too high to be confusing the name of the fish, I understand barracudas are really only aggresive when they're holed. Y'know, inside their holes where they're protecting eggs and what not and if you come close CHOMP. Kinda like those giant ones in Majora's Mask when you had to collect the slimy egg things.

Oh, no, wait, those are the moray eel things. Barracuda are the fish with the big teeth.

Never mind.


#37

CynicismKills

CynicismKills

Allen said:
I can't see monsters!
Click to expand...


#38

North_Ranger

North_Ranger

It's a bus-and-a-half-size badass whale with huge teeth.

BUS AND A HALF! That definitely counts as scary in my books, even if it's not Liopleurodon or Basilosaurus.


#39

Allen who is Quiet

Allen, who is Quiet

CynicismKills;410313][QUOTE=Allen said:
I can't see monsters!
Click to expand...
[/QUOTE]

CK, keep on keeping on.


#40

Cajungal

Cajungal

bhamv3 said:
I remember when I went scuba diving in Thailand, my instructor suddenly stopped me, wrote on his pad "school of barracuda" and pointed above us.

Now, having learned from popular culture that barracuda are predatory fish that are just below sharks in the underwater oh-shit scale, I immediately whirled around and stared upwards and saw these itsy bitsy six inch fish that were far more scared of me than I was of them. To be fair, though, there were more of them than there was of me.
Click to expand...
Barracuda are freakin scary. I once watched one of those "dramatic reenactment" shows about accidents at sea. This guy was fishing, and he caught a barracuda but pulled back too hard on the line or something. The thing flew through the air, landed on the guy, and just freakin latched on to his thigh. He lost so much blood he almost died or something. So you see, it's not size that makes something impressive. <--See, I'm making it easy for y'all today...

But yeah. I'm going back now to my state of childlike wonderment of all things aquatic.


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