On 25th April 1977, the Japanese trawler Zuiyo-maru accidentally hauled up a 10-m-long vertebrate carcass while about 30 miles off the coast of Christchurch, New Zealand. They didn’t want to retain the carcass for fear of contaminating their catch, but it was photographed and a few tissue samples were taken before it was discarded.

read more Where are all the dead sea monsters? – Tetrapod Zoology.