The A to Z blogfest continues, and the letter G can only mean one thing--the globster!What's a globster, you ask? It's an unidentified blob of flesh washed up on the beach. It's smelly, decaying, and generally nasty. People used to think they were some type of sea monster or unidentified species of giant squid or octopus.
I've always had a soft spot in my heart for globsters. Perhaps it's the name, or their irresistible cuteness. Perhaps it's because I always root for the underdog, and you can't get much lower than being a rotting hunk of unidentifiable meat on the beach being gawked at by local yokels.
The above photo is of the St. Augustine Monster, which washed ashore near St. Augustine, Florida, in 1896. Needless to say it caused quite a stir. A scientist who saw it thought it was an octopus because of the arm-like appendages you can see here. Journalists, of course, immediately labeled it a sea monster.
Maybe the journalists were right for once. Maybe in the unexplored depths of the ocean there are colonies of globsters, perhaps with a highly evolved civilization to hide themselves from our advancing technology. They're only spotted when one dies and floats to the surface!
Alas, I've never seen a globster. My closest brush with the unknown was "seeing" the infamous Thunderbird photo. I have to be content reading about them at Globhome.
This
photo is of the Chilean Blob. It washed up on the shore of Chile back
in 2003. At first it couldn't be identified, but then some party poopers
at a biological laboratory checked the DNA and found it came from a sperm whale.
Part of the blubber layer separated from the rest of the decaying
animal and eventually made it to the beach and into the newspapers. The
researchers theorize that most or all globsters may also be whale
blubber.But hey, DNA samples can be wrong, just ask anyone on death row! There's still a chance that the Lost Civilization of the Globsters will rise from the deep to reclaim their dead. . .
[Photos of the St. Augustine Monster and Chilean Blob courtesy Wikimedia Commons]
No one wants to end up a globster.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the great uncharted frontier lies beneath the seas, there are probably thousands of creatures we have no idea about sitting around. Apparently most of them being more discreet about what happens to their corpses.
ReplyDeleteDamn, not only do they have a cute name, they also have their own website.
ReplyDeleteGlobsters are Gross. Especially if they are Cthullu Globsters. I once went running on a beach in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where thousands of purple starfish had washed up, and under the sun they were gooey globsters galore. I had to wash my runners, yuck. I never thought that they might be the advance party of the Lost Civilization of the Globsters. Yuck.
ReplyDeleteHaha, that is the coolest, grossest thing I have ever seen. But awesome. I'd love to come across that on a beach somewhere.
ReplyDeleteHappy A through Z blogging!
http://pensuasion.blogspot.com/
Another thing to file under 'gross, but true'. I like the idea of the lost Globster civilization under the water, perhaps living in sunken Atlantis.
ReplyDeleteI love this post!!
ReplyDeleteNow I'm wondering what type of government the globsters have under the sea!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work! Definitely checking back in on your writing!
http://www.theandyboyd.blogspot.com
I'd never heard of globsters! I guess their civilisation must be off the coast of the US, then. Long may it last.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of globsters either. Something new to share with my husband who loves these sort of things.
ReplyDeleteHi Sean .. is that what it is - so pleased they've found out for us .. but Globster is a much better name!
ReplyDeleteCheers Hilary
This is so freaky! I would have sworn it was a giant octopus. The people who figured out it was part of a sperm whale are definitely party poopers. :(
ReplyDelete