Holy prehistoric mystery!

OK, not really.

There’s no indication that the gigantic skull found washed up on the beach at Island Beach State Park is anything prehistoric, but some of the guesses have been exactly that. Some feel it looks like a pterodactyl skull.

Only it doesn’t. A pterodactyl skull is thinner and has a plate emanating from the top. Others say it looks like a porpoise skull, a whale skull, and many other guesses. One commenter on Island Beach State Park’s Facebook page says he did some simple Googling and believes it to be an Antarctic minke whale. One of these guesses is correct. No scrolling ahead to find the answer!

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Whatever this is, it was found this weekend by State Park Police. And look at the size of this thing.

Island Beach State Park Facebook
Island Beach State Park Facebook
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Comparing the angles in the two pictures and where it comes up to the officer’s waist I’m ballparking this bad boy at about 4 feet long. But what IS it? Thousands of people on their Facebook page have been commenting and guessing. Other prehistoric beasts made the list, gigantic birds, the beak of a giant squid, etc..

There’s been plenty of guesses made just for laughs, too. One guy said it’s his ex-wife’s mouth. Others guessed the Jersey Devil, a Jabberwocky, Big Bird, cereal mascot Toucan Sam, and Jimmy Hoffa just to name a few.

But the final answer? Bob Schoelkopf, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center's director, says the likely answer is the mystery skull belonged to (drum roll please) a Minke whale. One that was nearly 11 feet long.

"We think this is the one we had last year in Island Beach State Park," he told nj.com. "It was buried under the beach and likely came up again."

Wait a minute! We're getting recycled skulls?! This wasn't even new?! Wow. How Jersey is that. All I know is since this happened at Island Beach State Park I’m waiting to see the first person superimpose a picture of Chris Christie in a beach chair sitting next to it.

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