Trunko
People said they watched two whales fight a white, furry sea monster with a trunk, which then washed up on the beach.
What was reported
In 1924 a British newspaper reported that people at Margate, on the coast of what is now KwaZulu-Natal, had watched two whales battle a large white creature offshore for hours. Afterwards a huge carcass washed up on the beach, said to be covered in snow-white hair, with no visible head and a trunk-like limb.
It reportedly lay there for days without any scientist studying it, then was carried back out to sea. The story was largely forgotten until photographs of it came to light in 2010.
Explanations offered
Researchers now think the carcass was a mass of whale blubber, a so-called globster, which can look hairy as its tough fibres come apart. The photographs show a large, shapeless mass, and the 'battle' may have been killer whales hunting a whale. The name Trunko was given later.
- When
- 1924
- Where
- Margate, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- Witnesses
- People on the beach at Margate
- Status
- Mostly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.