What to Know
- A huge partial skull washed up on Island Beach State Park following Monday's storm, sparking curiosity among those online after photos appeared on social media of the initially unidentified find.
- The massive skeletal remain is so gigantic that a photo published on Island Beach State Park's Facebook page shows that it comes up to the waist of the police officer who was seen posing with it.
- Although authorities were initially unsure what species the mysterious skull was from, they subsequently confirmed that it is the lower jaw of a type of whale.
A huge partial skull washed up on Island Beach State Park following Monday's storm, sparking curiosity among those online after photos appeared on social media of the initially unidentified find.
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The massive skeletal remain is so gigantic that a photo published on Island Beach State Park's Facebook page shows that it comes up to the waist of the police officer who was seen posing with it.
The New Jersey state park initially posted: "You never know what you are going to find on the beach after a storm...Our State Park Police found this skull yesterday...As soon as we identify we will post. Any guesses?"
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The announcement sparked a slew of theories online with some guessing it was a whale's skull or possibly a bird, yet, others guessed that the skull was that of a dinosaur.
"That’s where my Pterodactyl head went!!" one Facebook user joked, joining the various other users who guessed that this was indeed part of the extinct flying dinosaur.
Although authorities were initially unsure what species the mysterious skull was from, they subsequently confirmed that it is the lower jaw of a type of whale.
"Take a look at what our State Park Police staff found near A2 beach access path yesterday after the storm. We have confirmed that this is the ventral (lower) jaw and skull of a Minke whale," the Island Beach State Park's Facebook post read.
