Globster

Overview

An unidentified, often large, fibrous organic mass washed up on a shoreline. Once a staple of cryptozoological speculation, almost every well-studied globster has been identified by DNA or histology as the decomposed remains of a whale or other large vertebrate.

Details

Origin:

Globsters have been reported on coastlines globally — Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Oceans, and adjacent seas. The phenomenon is not regional in any meaningful sense; it tracks the geography of large cetacean populations and shipping/observer density.

Regions:

North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Pacific, Tasman Sea, Caribbean, Bermuda

First Reported:

1808-09-01

Full Account

A globster is an unidentified organic mass — usually large, pale or whitish, fibrous, and lacking obvious anatomy — that washes up on a beach or other shoreline. The term was coined by writer Ivan T. Sanderson in 1962 to describe a Tasmanian carcass discovered in 1960 that had 'no visible eyes, no defined head, and no apparent bone structure'. Globsters were widely cited in 20th-century cryptozoological literature as possible evidence of unknown sea creatures (including alleged 'sea monsters', surviving plesiosaurs, or giant octopuses). Since the late 1980s a series of histological and DNA studies — notably by Sidney K. Pierce and colleagues at the University of South Florida — has shown that almost every well-analyzed globster is the decomposed remains of a whale (or, in a few cases, a basking shark or other large vertebrate). The fibrous appearance is produced by the persistence of dense collagen fibres from blubber and connective tissue after softer tissues have decomposed. Notable cases include the St. Augustine Monster (Florida, 1896 — eventually identified as whale collagen), the Tasmanian Globster (1960), the Stronsay Beast (Orkney, 1808 — identified as a basking shark), the Bermuda Blobs (1988, 1997), the Newfoundland Blob (2001), and the Chilean Blob (2003). The category remains useful as a catch-all for shoreline carcasses pending identification.

Also Known As

• Blob (English)
• Sea blob (English)

Etymology

Origin:

Coined by Ivan T. Sanderson in 1962 as a portmanteau / nonce term — apparently a blend of 'globular' (or 'glob') and 'monster'.

Meaning:

Unidentified blob-like mass washed ashore

First Use:

1962 (Sanderson)

Timeline

• 1808-09-25 — Stronsay Beast washes up on Stronsay, Orkney; initially described as a sea serpent, later identified as a basking shark (Earliest classic globster)
• 1896-11-30 — St. Augustine Monster carcass discovered on Anastasia Island, Florida (Long-running cryptozoological cause célèbre, attributed by Addison Verrill (1897) to a giant octopus, finally identified as whale collagen by Pierce et al. (1995))
• 1924-11-01 — Trunko reported at Margate, South Africa, allegedly fighting two whales (Often-cited 'tentacled' globster; later analysis suggests decomposed whale)
• 1960-08-01 — Tasmanian Globster found on Western Tasmanian beach; described by Ivan T. Sanderson and named in 1962 (Coining of 'globster')
• 1962-01-01 — Ivan T. Sanderson coins the term 'globster' to describe the 1960 Tasmanian carcass (Establishes the category in popular cryptozoology)
• 1988-05-01 — First Bermuda Blob found (Investigated and identified as decomposed whale by Pierce et al.)
• 1995-01-01 — Sidney K. Pierce et al. publish histological/biochemical analysis of the St. Augustine Monster identifying it as whale collagen (Landmark study debunking giant-octopus hypothesis)
• 2003-07-01 — Chilean Blob found at Los Muermos, Chile (Major early-21st-century globster; identified by DNA analysis as sperm whale tissue)
• 2004-07-01 — Pierce et al. publish a sweeping histology/molecular survey of multiple globsters in The Biological Bulletin, all identified as whale (Generalizes the whale-collagen explanation across cases)

Sightings & Evidence

Cultural Significance

Local communities encountering large unidentified shoreline carcasses have historically reached for sea-monster framings; as DNA analysis has become routine, these have largely been replaced by identification as whales or basking sharks.

Related Phenomena

• Kraken — Older sea-monster tradition sometimes invoked to explain globsters
• Lusca — Caribbean sea-monster tradition sometimes linked to globsters
• Loch Ness Monster — Famous lake/sea cryptid; contrast case for marine cryptid investigation
• Trunko — Famous 1924 Margate (South Africa) globster reportedly fighting whales
• Montauk Monster (2008) — Decomposed shoreline carcass widely covered in 2008; identified as a raccoon

Tags

Sources

• Globster
• Microscopic, Biochemical, and Molecular Characteristics of the Chilean Blob and a Comparison with the Remains of Other Sea Monsters: Nothing but Whales — Biological Bulletin
• On the Giant Octopus (Octopus giganteus) and the Bermuda Blob: Homage to A. E. Verrill — Biological Bulletin
• Abominable Science! Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids — Columbia University Press
• Things (column / book) — Pyramid Books / Pursuit journal