Giant Squid Washes Ashore in Santa Monica, Alarms Sound over Radioactive Gigantism : Facts

Story:

A Giant Sea Creature washes ashore along Santa Monica coastline, alarms Sound over Radioactive Gigantism.

Other Versions

1. Giant Squid from Fukushima Washes Ashore In California.

2. Giant Radioactive Squid Frightens Santa Monica Residents

Picture about Giant Squid Washes Ashore in Santa Monica, Alarms Sound over Radioactive Gigantism — Giant Squid Washes Ashore in Santa Monica, Alarms Sound over Radioactive Gigantism

Analysis:

These picture messages spreading through social media websites claim to show and talk about a Giant Squid that supposedly washed ashore in Santa Monica, and that it raised serious concerns over ‘Radioactive Gigantism’. That’s not a fact!

The Claim

This claim about the discovery of a Giant Squid originated from an article published in the website, Lightly Braised Turnip. According to the article, the sea creature was a giant squid measuring a whopping 160 feet from head to tentacle tip. It is also said that the squid originated from the waters near the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, and after the Nuclear disaster in 2011, scientists reportedly believe number of sea creatures suffered genetic mutations that triggered uncontrolled growth — calling it as “radioactive gigantism.”

Facts

The picture and the story garnered much attention of people online, as people believed it to be a genuine report. However, there are many flaws in the report that hardly validate anything reported. Firstly, there are no local or national media reports of discovering any such monstrous sea creature. As told in the article, California Gov. Brown did not release any statements warning citizens about monster sea creatures. Also, the Santa Monica Parks Manager Cynthia Beard and Santa Marino College biology professor Martin L. Grimm are not real people.

The source article is basically satirical, and so is the website Lightly Braised Turnip. Though there is no clear satirical disclaimer, the articles published in the website like ‘Exclusive Interview with Santa Claus On Diverse Santas‘ and ‘Serena Williams Swings For Fences By Playing Iron Mike In New Biopic‘ does indicate so.

About the Picture

The sea creature shown in the article is actually a 30 feet long Giant Squid called Architeuthis dux that washed ashore at La Arena beach in the Spanish community of Cantabria on Oct. 1, 2013. The picture was morphed to look huge onto another beach photo with spectators gathering around. You can find more details about the creature here.

While Giant squids can grow as large as 40 feet in length, Architeuthis dux is the largest invertebrate (animals without backbones) on Earth.

The bottom line is, no such monstrous sea creature of 160 feet washed ashore in Santa Monica; the claims originated from a satirical website. Looks like, the increasing number of online satirical articles these days has more or less become a trend to mislead people.