A STUNNED fisherman discovered this unusual object drifting in the ocean off the coast of Western Australia.
“Seeing it was great, the smell not so much,” Mark Watkins said on Facebook
He initially believed it was a boat, then a hot air balloon that had dropped.
When he drew closer, he realized it was a dead whale with a hugely enlarged corpse.
What is it? At first, Watkins thought it was a boat
Speaking to the West Australian, Mark Watkins, 36, said: “Its stomach was full of gas so it was all bloated up.
“When we got closer we realised it had to be a dead whale because of the smell.”
Mark Watkins was out fishing with his father when they spotted the fallen giantCredit: Facebook / Corey Donohoe
The seasoned angler had never seen anything like it while fishing with his father south of Perth.
Images Mr Watkins photographed the deceased whale’s skin, which was stretched to the point of bursting.
Some sharks had taken chunks out of the whale Credit: Facebook / Mark Watkins
As the couple headed back to shore they found the whale had deflated as some sharks had torn chunks off of it.
He added: “We actually did have a 3.5 to 4m white pointer [shark] around our boat that day – it seemed more interested in our boat than the whale.”
Humpback whales are often spotted in the western region of Australia in the summer time.