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On April 25, 1977 the Japanese fishing vessel Zuiyo Maru hauled aboard a huge carcass that no one has been able to identify. It was while trawling for mackerel off the coast of New Zealand that the fishermen netted it, at a depth of 900 feet, only to discover that they had caught a rotting corpse. The blob was definitely neither fish nor whale nor any other recognizable mammal. Nor was it a figment of imagination-it weighed about 4,000 pounds, measured 32 feet, and was observed by 18 crewmen.
Despite its decomposition, it was seen to have a long neck, longish tail, four fins, and a well-developed spine. Aboard the vessel was Michihiko Yano, assistant production manager of Taiyo Fisheries, Ltd., who measured the body, clipped tissue samples, and took colored snapshots of it.
Ignoring the potential biological significance of the curious discovery, the captain, Akira Tanaka, decided to dump the carcass into the ocean again so not to risk spoiling the caught fish. However, before that, some photos and sketches were taken of the creature, nick-named "Nessie" by the crew, measurements were taken and some samples of skeleton, skin and fins were collected for further analysis by experts in Japan. The discovery resulted in immense commotion and "plesiosaur-craze" in Japan, and the shipping company ordered all its boats to try to relocate the dumped corpse again, but with no apparent success.
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