Mysterious gigantic skull washed up on California beach attracts tourists

A massive and mysterious skull washed up on a Monterey Bay Beach in California, which has attracted tourists in huge numbers to look at nature's marvel, the Sacramento Bee reported.

According to experts, the skull found at Watsonville's Pajaro Dunes State Beach most likely belonged to a fin or blue whale. 

Chief palaeontologist Robert Boessenecker of the Charleston Centre for Palaeontology in South Carolina said, "They're both gigantic whales. I mean, they’ve got skulls that are measured in metres rather than feet or centimetres. And they’re quite similar."

The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History stated in a post on X, previously Twitter, that the skull most likely originates from a whale corpse that washed ashore in October. 

However, too much had broken down for the remains to be identified.

The museum stated, "Over the past few months, many curious locals have been sending us images trying to make sense of this behemoth."

Because of its size, experts at the museum believe the carcass to be a fin whale.

According to museum experts, "What remains today is the basicranium base of the skull with attached partial nares aka nostrils." 

Fin and blue whales are two of the largest creatures on Earth, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.