Re-evaluation as Whale Blubber

In a 1986 issue of Cryptozoology, Gennaro carried out a comparative histological examination of the tissue and concluded that it most resembled contemporary octopus tissue. Later analyses tested the carcass for different amino acids, comparing results with tissues of a spotted dolphin, a beluga, a giant squid, and two octopus species. The samples were found to be masses of virtually pure collagen, lacking the biochemical characteristics of invertebrate collagen or the collagen fiber arrangement of octopus mantle, suggesting the remains of the skin of an enormous warm-blooded vertebrate. The authors concluded there is no evidence to support the existence of Octopus giganteus and concurred with Verrill (1897) and Lucas (1897) that the carcass was the remains of a whale, likely the entire skin or blubber layer.