BassBuddah
10-02-2008, 05:04 PM
Anyone find any of these juicy chunks? :D
BRIGANTINE BEACH, N.J. - Pieces of meat are washing ashore in New Jersey and officials are trying to determine exactly what the meat is.
"We're trying to catch anything we can," said fisherman Ed Morella.
But, the mystery meat is one thing Morella would not like to hook on his line.
"That's unbelievable,” said Morella. “I've never seen anything like that before."
"The largest piece that we found intact was 5 feet," said Bob Schoelkopf of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.
Chunks of some sort of massive marine creature were discovered washed up the day before, strewn across the sand.
"Almost as if someone had blown up an animal and it floated to shore," said Schoelkopf.
Experts from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center came to investigate the unusual find.
They say the mystery meat are actually internal organs, possibly from a huge whale or shark, but really can't be sure nor do they know how it ended up in pieces.
"We've had some strange things come up but this is a baffling one," said Schoelkopf.
The folks from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center immediately notified the National Marine Fisheries Service and then learned the discovery might not have been an isolated incident.
"They told us that apparently they were finding pieces along the Delaware coast as well, so this is a real mystery to us," said Schoelkopf.
Adding to the intrigue: old knife marks discovered on the flesh, suggesting that someone else likely found the stuff first.
Pieces of the mystery meat are now on ice at the stranding center and will be used for genetic testing.
"We have DNA (http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=100810&provider=top#) samples that we took so it can be sent out for analysis and maybe find out what species it is," said Schoelkopf.
It could be months before those results are known. And if there's anything else like this out there, Ed and Linda Morella hope they don't hook it.
BRIGANTINE BEACH, N.J. - Pieces of meat are washing ashore in New Jersey and officials are trying to determine exactly what the meat is.
"We're trying to catch anything we can," said fisherman Ed Morella.
But, the mystery meat is one thing Morella would not like to hook on his line.
"That's unbelievable,” said Morella. “I've never seen anything like that before."
"The largest piece that we found intact was 5 feet," said Bob Schoelkopf of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.
Chunks of some sort of massive marine creature were discovered washed up the day before, strewn across the sand.
"Almost as if someone had blown up an animal and it floated to shore," said Schoelkopf.
Experts from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center came to investigate the unusual find.
They say the mystery meat are actually internal organs, possibly from a huge whale or shark, but really can't be sure nor do they know how it ended up in pieces.
"We've had some strange things come up but this is a baffling one," said Schoelkopf.
The folks from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center immediately notified the National Marine Fisheries Service and then learned the discovery might not have been an isolated incident.
"They told us that apparently they were finding pieces along the Delaware coast as well, so this is a real mystery to us," said Schoelkopf.
Adding to the intrigue: old knife marks discovered on the flesh, suggesting that someone else likely found the stuff first.
Pieces of the mystery meat are now on ice at the stranding center and will be used for genetic testing.
"We have DNA (http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=100810&provider=top#) samples that we took so it can be sent out for analysis and maybe find out what species it is," said Schoelkopf.
It could be months before those results are known. And if there's anything else like this out there, Ed and Linda Morella hope they don't hook it.