The Chilean Blob was a large mass of tissue found on Pinuno Beach in
Los Muermos
Los Muermos is a city and commune in Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region in southern Chile.
Demographics
According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Los Muermos spans an area of and has 16,964 inhabitants (8,939 men and 8 ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
in July 2003. It weighed and measured across.
[Chilean blob could be octopus]
''BBC News'', July 3, 2003. The Chilean Blob made headlines around the world because biologists were initially unable to identify it, and were speculating that it was the remains of some species of giant
octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
previously unknown to science.
In June 2004, DNA found in the blob was found to match that of a
sperm whale
The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the sperm whale famil ...
: the blob was a large mass of
adipose tissue
Adipose tissue, body fat, or simply fat is a loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes. In addition to adipocytes, adipose tissue contains the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of cells including preadipocytes, fibroblasts, vascular e ...
, the partial remains of a dead sperm whale.
[Puig, R. 2004. ]
A Whale of a Tale.
' Research Online, University of South Florida.
References
{{coord missing, Chile
Globsters
Natural history of Chile
Los Lagos Region
2003 in Chile
Coasts of Los Lagos Region