Florida's trident tail sea creature

[fillindablank]

I'm not overly impressed by this stuff usually but the videos of this thing don't look like anything that is currently known. From the horizontal tail it looks like a mammal. Sure the trident tail could be an aberration of a Manatee or the like but I saw the show and there was another segment of the video that showed what looked like a fin with a horn at the base and that didn't look familiar at all, that part is probably available somehwere. This could actually be a new and unknown species. The parts of it shown in the video looks like stuff on old woodcuts of sea monsters so it is possible this could have been seen before.

http://xenophilius.wordpress.com/2009/04/28/florida%E2%80%99s-sea-monster/

 

[Mech_Engineer]

It's a manatee with a damaged tail, what's the big deal?

Show me conclusive video of it underwater, then I'll believe its a "sea monster."

 

[BigFairy]

meh..

 

[fillindablank]

It's a manatee with a damaged tail, what's the big deal?

Show me conclusive video of it underwater, then I'll believe its a "sea monster."

I love it when people post replies that are covered in the original post. If you read the whole thing you might have seen the part about the horn which even Manatees with damaged tails don't have. The video I linked isn't all of the video. The show (Monster Quest) had a lot more. There is a horn somewhere and what looks like the head too and the head doesn't look like a Manatee either. This guy said he had hours of tape of these things.

 

[EseehC]

If you watch the video in the link, you see that the "hours of tape" are may not be of the same animal. It shows that some of the tape is of what appears to be an alligator

 

[BigFairy]

... fail


dissapointed.

 

[Borek]

I wonder how the manatee tail grows, could be some mutation or just a birth defect, akin harelip in humans.

 

[fillindablank]

I think that it bears absolutely no resemblance to a Manatee tail. A Manatee tail is a large flat paddle. Here is a better link. I know the skeptics are going to say that the video is of different creatures but that is a stretch considering that there is video of something that is definitely odd, why mix in video of other creatures? No point. All that thrashing around is not Manatee behavior either, they are extremely sluggish generally.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/high schools/content/local_news/epaper/2009/08/15/a1b_seamonster_0816.html

Here is a pic of a Manatee tail. It is nothing like the one in the video even trying to imagine it damaged by a propellor.

http://www.arkive.org/media/40/40A7C65F-E56F-4FB7-80CD-AE313049631F/Presentation.Large/photo.jpg

The only logical explanation I can think of is some type of seal that evolved with the back flippers merging with the tail to create the trident effect. But even that won't explain everything in the video. I would like to see it in HD.

 

[DaveC426913]

I think that it bears absolutely no resemblance to a Manatee tail. A Manatee tail is a large flat paddle. Here is a better link.

No, the only logical explanation is that it is an existing creature with an aberration.

While it may not resemble a normal manatee tail, the next most likely explanation is considered. A manatee tail could look like that. There's no reason to rule it out.

Occam's Razor. Don't invent a new creature until all more plausible possibilities have been ruled out.

I know the skeptics are going to say that the video is of different creatures but that is a stretch considering that there is video of something that is definitely odd, why mix in video of other creatures? No point.

What do you mean 'no point'? Of course there's a point. it is a classic case of the flawed thinking: "multiple weak arguments add up to make one stronger argument".

"I couldn't have wrecked your car because I wasn't driving. Besides, I'm an excellent driver."

 

[fillindablank]

You may be right Dave. On the other hand you would have been wrong saying that about every new creature that's been discovered recently and there have been a lot. Did you watch the video in the new link? It looks pretty clear to me that's some unusual stuff comin out of the water. I have to agree with the guy that says that is clearly not the head of a Manatee, the snout is way too narrow and the brow ridge looks more pronounced.