Image Credit: Fubar News

A mysterious skeleton washed ashore on a Scottish beach during Storm Ciara, leaving locals confused by the rotting carcass.

The photo was taken only hours after Storm Ciara passed through Scotland and shows the skeleton of a large and currently unidentified creature.

Some people have suggested that these remains belong to the Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie. It’s unlikely because Nessie probably wouldn’t venture into salt water, and the skeleton doesn’t have some of the Loch Ness Monster’s specific features.

Others made light of the situation.

“Dead seagull,” joked Scott Forbes. “They are getting massive here in the North East. Stay safe folks.”

“Saltwater crocodile or a tentacle of a giant octopus,” added Mamie Graham. “Well, I might as well be as silly as the rest of the writers.”

Not all the suggestions were comical, though.

“At first glance I thought a brontosaurus,” said Matthew Cook, “but looking at the vertebrae in the skeletal structure, I’m swayed towards a diplodocus or triceratops.”

Multiple people chalked up the mysterious skeleton to that of a decomposing whale, orca, or dolphin. This is quite possible, as the North Sea is home to many large sea creatures. Species found in the North Sea include:

Harbour porpoises

White-beaked dolphins

Common bottlenose dolphins

Short-beaked common dolphins

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

Common minke whales

Long-finned pilot whales

Humpback whales

Fin whales

Some animals that aren’t typically seen in the North Sea venture into its waters and end up dying because of the limited food sources available. These animals include:

Sperm whales

Sowerby’s beaked whales (North Atlantic or North Sea beaked whales)

Striped dolphins

Bottlenose whales

If this does happen to be a cryptid, such as the Loch Ness Monster, this would be a disheartening way for science to discover it. For once, cryptozoologists are hoping that they haven’t discovered Nessie!

Comment below, and let us know your thoughts on what washed ashore from the North Sea in Scotland!