The Montauk Monster

by kate | July 31, 2008 at 09:47 am

33599 views | 15 Recommendations | 28 comments

I've just come across news of the "Montauk Monster". Word is that an unidentified creature with a hooked beak, about the size of a dog, has washed onshore in Montauk, leading to a frenzy of specualation about whether the monster is in fact a monster, or whether the whole thing is some kind of viral marketing ploy. Here is one account, in which a Montauk visitor swears that they actually have seen the monster:

I'm not sure whether to believe that this creature actually exists, but it has been tagged the "Montauk monster."

Gawker first posted the photo on Tuesday saying they assume it was a phony since it came from Alanna Navitski who works for a viral-marketing firm.

Navitski, however, says the monster of Montauk is real. She got the photo from a friend of her sister's who actually saw the monster in real life.

"I saw the monster," said another witness, a waiter at a nearby restaurant, to New York magazine. "I just came walking down the beach and everyone was looking at it. No one knew what it was. It kind of looked like a dog, but it had this crazy-looking beak. I mean, I would freak out if something like that popped up next to me in the water."

My favourite though is this account, from Thaindian News, which reports that the "brownish purple" is "very dead and stinking":

A brownish purple was found in the Long Island beach when a creature turned up very dead and stinking. This made the Hamptons summer season a thriller affair since everyone is curious ‘what’s this up here?. The creature was washed up to the shores in Montauk and New York’s celebrity-obsessed Hamptons summer season woke to a weird-looking, completely kaput monster on the Montauk beach at the eastern end of New York’s Long Island.

Can anyone vouch for this creature? Me, though I am a longtime fan of mysterious creatures especially those that wash ashore, I'm voting for photoshop on this one.

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animachina (not verified)

at 20:12 on July 31st, 2008

Just a raccoon after all....

http://www.animachina.com/images/whatisit/montauk_monster_is_raccoon.jpg

Trevor Alastando (not verified)

at 10:21 on July 31st, 2008

More photos of the creature are available at http://www.digitalfuntown.com

Emilio Lizardo

at 11:33 on July 31st, 2008

Who says cloning can't be fun!

On the other hand, Photoshop can be fun too ...

julianw

at 13:11 on July 31st, 2008

See here for additional NP coverage of the Thing.

Nicky Papers (not verified)

at 15:08 on July 31st, 2008

I'm staying in Montauk this weekend/week at the Ronjo Hotel. Word spread around town upon it's discovery on the beach. I saw the creature with my own eyes.... scary and weird, that's all I have to say. I'll be posting pictures and a story of this on my blog. www.rawpowermoves.com

skinbone (not verified)

at 16:41 on July 31st, 2008

Now i'm in trouble..... my ex just washed up on a montauk beach

apersonwhoisinlovewitjoejonas (not verified)

at 17:28 on July 31st, 2008

the monster is totally creepy. i dont believe in them myself nd i could definitley say it IS a monster or a new species of an animal. this thing is sooooo buggin!!!!!!!

Serge (not verified)

at 17:58 on July 31st, 2008

It's a featherless sabertoothed woodpecker!

Lambpost (not verified)

at 19:30 on July 31st, 2008

If you look very closely it appears that some of the flesh is missing from the frontal part of the skull making it have the appearance of a beak. Also, in case anyone has not noticed it also looks like its front legs have been tied together. My bet is that a very demented person tied the front legs of someone's beloved pet dog so that it could not paddle and drowned it in the ocean. Maybe it was a nasty divorce or revenge...or maybe just a sicko with too much time on his/her hands. Whatever the case may be...it definately looks like a dead dog that drowned.

poemas (not verified)

at 19:31 on July 31st, 2008

Is hard to tell with today techology, any photo can be altered with photoshop or any other program.

Paschen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 20:59 on July 31st, 2008

kate, I like this story. It's good stuff.

First it is dead, blooded and maybe has some broken bones as well, especially in scull area that may explain the deformation, it could very well be a pig!

Michael Makhoul (not verified)

at 23:30 on July 31st, 2008

Hey hey you guys: This creature is a fake it is made in photo-shop software. You can check with the wesite www.worth1000.com and you can see lots of fake creatures. How come there is only one and only picture of this Montauk Monster??? The fake creature's right hand's wrist has been tied up with a cloth or a thick belt which the photo-shop will draw a new hand or claw just exactly starting from there . It is a dog's body with a fake head. See the neck is too large for the small head. Ha ha ha lots of people has beleaved in this stupid photo-shop creature. There is nothing of such a thing. Beleave it ot not.

So don't beleave all what you see or hear on the internet...

Steve Rags (not verified)

at 04:09 on August 1st, 2008

I was there and took pictures of it. check out newsday.com for my pics and more of the story

Steve Rags (not verified)

at 04:11 on August 1st, 2008

check out newsday. com.. i was there and saw the thing. we took 2 more pics. sorry pal your wrong it wasnt photoshopped..

Larrikin (not verified)

at 04:12 on August 1st, 2008

I was having a Pina Colada at Trader Vics, and saw a Fleet Street barber walking that thing...............................ooh ooh, Werewolves of London:)

misticwolf (not verified)

at 04:58 on August 1st, 2008

I believe it is an animal they were using at that lab place even though they denied it .Come on do you really think they would tell the truth about making mutants out of common animals?Ha they dont want to face the animals rights people,and they dont want to expose anything that went wrong to the public.scientist have been screwing up for years thats partly what is wrong with the world today.

Grapeadder (not verified)

at 06:18 on August 1st, 2008

Looks like a turtle out of it's shell to me :-)

zoso159 (not verified)

at 07:53 on August 1st, 2008

This picture isn't photoshopped at all. It's OBVIOUSLY Kathy Griffin now that she's sworn off plastic surgery....

Dannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn (not verified)

at 07:56 on August 1st, 2008

its a dead turtle with no shell. come on people

politisite

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 08:32 on August 1st, 2008

Good stuff, See also, Monster of Montauk by kate Her story ended up top page in Google and ended up with the most viewed story of the day with almost 15, 000 Congrats Kate.

TK tweested keed (not verified)

at 09:16 on August 1st, 2008

id beat

Getreal (not verified)

at 10:40 on August 1st, 2008

Turtles don't have teeth- It's a dead raccoon

Pete(r) (not verified)

at 10:59 on August 1st, 2008

ITS MANBEARPIG!

kate

at 18:40 on August 1st, 2008

Thanks politisite!

politisite

at 08:16 on August 2nd, 2008

You are welcome! I think the comment cut off the last part of my statement. You are in the body of my story as well. That was the text that I inserted.

pipsissewa (not verified)

at 09:02 on August 2nd, 2008

If you zoom in on the picture, you can see what looks like a fly just behind the neck, which gives us scale. It actually looks like a pretty small animal and it has some gray-brownish fur below where the ear looks to have been chewed off. The flesh has decomposed on the muzzle area, giving it the appearance of a beak. My guess would be a raccoon or groundhog. The finger-like paws would make me veer more towards a raccoon, though.