Trunko

Infobox Paranormalcreatures
Creature_Name = Trunko


Image_Caption = Artistic depiction of Trunko being mauled by orcas by Bill Asmussen.
AKA = The Margate Monster
Country = South Africa
Region = Africa
Habitat = Water
First_Reported = 1924
Last_Sighted = 10 days later
Status = Unconfirmed

Trunko is the nickname for an animal reportedly sighted in Margate, South Africa on October 25, 1924, according to an article entitled "Fish Like A Polar Bear" published in the December 27, 1924 edition of London's "Daily Mail". The animal was reputedly first seen off the coast battling two killer whales, which fought the unusual creature for three hours. It used its tail to attack the whales and reportedly lifted itself out of the water by about 20 feet. One of the witnesses, Hugh Ballance, described the animal as looking like a "giant polar bear" during a final fight.

Description

The creature reputedly washed up on Margate Beach but despite being there for 10 days, no scientist ever investigated the carcass while it was beached, so no reliable description has been published, and no photographs of it have ever been published. Some people who have never been identified were reported to have described the animal as possessing snowy-white fur, an elephantine trunk, a lobster-like tail, and a carcass devoid of blood.

While it was beached, the animal was measured by beach-goers and turned out to be convert|47|ft|m|sigfig=2|abbr=on in length, convert|10|ft|m|sigfig=2|abbr=on wide, and convert|5|ft|m|sigfig=2|abbr=on high, with the trunk's length being convert|5|ft|m|sigfig=2|abbr=on, the trunk's diameter convert|14|in|cm|sigfig=2|abbr=on, the tail convert|10|ft|m|sigfig=2|abbr=on, and the fur being convert|8|in|cm|sigfig=2|abbr=on long. The trunk was said to be attached directly to the animal's torso, as no head was visible on the carcass. For this feature, the animal was dubbed Trunko by British cryptozoologist Dr Karl Shuker in his 1996 book "The Unexplained" [cite book

last = Shuker
first = Karl P N
authorlink = Karl Shuker
title = The Unexplained
publisher = Carlton
year = 1996
isbn = 1-85868-186-3] . In the March 27, 1925 edition of the Charleroi Mail, in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, an article entitled "Whales Slain By Hairy Monster" reported that whales there were killed by a strange creature which was washed up on a beach exhausted and fell unconscious, but made its way back into the ocean and swam away after 10 days, never to be seen again.

Explanations

Many suggestions have been made to explain this phenomenon, the most common explanation being that Trunko was the carcass of a large whale, basking shark, or whale shark, whose decaying body made it appear furry and that the orcas were feasting on its corpse [cite book
last = Shuker
first = Karl P N
authorlink = Karl Shuker
title = The Unexplained
publisher = Carlton
year = 1996
isbn = 1-85868-186-3] . The second most common theory is that Trunko was a sighting of a strange-looking new species of huge whale, pinniped or sirenian. It is generally considered to be a cryptid, part of the field of cryptozoology

ee also

*Cryptozoology
*List of cryptids
*Tasmanian Globster

External links

* [http://64.207.147.134/monsters/carcass/index.php?detail=article&idarticle=61 Trunko article on American Monsters]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/sc2/Trunko/trunko.html Kryptid's Keep] analysis of Trunko reports
* [http://www.cryptozoology.com/glossary/glossary_topic.php?id=10 Cryptozoology.com] glossary description of Trunko

References