Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
It was the monster they threw back.
On the morning of April 25, 1977, the crew of the Japanese trawler Zuiyo-maru hauled up something from the deep that looked like it had swum out of prehistory. Thirty miles east of Christchurch, New Zealand, from nearly 1,000 feet down came a reeking, half-decayed carcass, thirty-three feet long, with a serpentine neck, four red fins, and a tail trailing behind.
At first glance, assistant production manager Michihiko Yano thought it was a rotten whale. But then he took a closer look and reached for a camera. The head was too small, and the neck was too long.
Captain Akira Tanaka made the call quickly. The ship carried a valuable catch of fish, and the decomposing carcass risked contaminating the entire catch. Standard practice called for disposal, so the crew prepared to throw the thing back.
But science got a second chance...
It was the monster they threw back.
On the morning of April 25, 1977, the crew of the Japanese trawler Zuiyo-maru hauled up something from the deep that looked like it had swum out of prehistory. Thirty miles east of Christchurch, New Zealand, from nearly 1,000 feet down came a reeking, half-decayed carcass, thirty-three feet long, with a serpentine neck, four red fins, and a tail trailing behind.
At first glance, assistant production manager Michihiko Yano thought it was a rotten whale. But then he took a closer look and reached for a camera. The head was too small, and the neck was too long.
Captain Akira Tanaka made the call quickly. The ship carried a valuable catch of fish, and the decomposing carcass risked contaminating the entire catch. Standard practice called for disposal, so the crew prepared to throw the thing back.
But science got a second chance...
