When a 39-foot long carcass of a sea creature washed ashore in Chile, people were hoping it would be some rare kind of octopus, like octopus giganteus. But alas, it was just the decayed remains of a sperm whale - when whale bodies rot, the bones fall away and the skin and blubber float, and the mass is very similar in appearance to ocotopus. Gothamist wants to let its readers know in case they are walking along the beach and come across a huge, rotting, smelling mass - don't go assuming it's a huge octopus. [Via Jay - thanks]

The most famous whale of them all: Moby Dick. And Gothamist liked The Whale Rider, but that doesn't involve rotting whale bodies.