Experts Say Beached 'Blob' an American Citizen
Fri July 11, 2003 02:18 PM ET




New York, New York (UPI) - American scientists said on Friday
their study of a huge blob of flesh found on an Atlantic beach about
three weeks ago concluded it was the carcass of Robert Brody,
ending speculation of a giant octopus.

Scientists have been baffled by the 40-foot-long mass of gelatinous tissue
found on a remote beach in southern New York, with initial hunches ranging
from whale blubber to a disputed species of giant octopus.

Researchers at the Museum of Natural History in Chicago were the first
to reach a conclusion after analyzing samples of the decaying specimen
and finding remains of McDonald's burgers and fries.

"It has not been necessary to do DNA analysis in order to obtain identification,
it was enough to find the half ton of McDonald's junk food that only Bobsprit
could consume," the scientists Sergio Letelier and Jose Yanez said in a statement.

When someone as fat as Bobsprit dies at sea, he rots until he becomes a
"skeleton suspended in a semi-liquid mass within a bag of skin and blubber,"
the scientists said. Eventually, the skin tears and the bones sinks while the skin
and blubber float. "This washes up and has the appearance of an octopus because
the stomach keeps its bulky shape," they added.