Mummified Sea Monster

Status: Status: Taxidermical creation
image I received this email from Alex Wright (of Glasgow):
I found this interesting/ disturbing mummified monstrosity on a blog site I frequent. They're not sure what it is. It has a Fiji Mermaid kind of a vibe about it and it sort of reminds me of that picture of the Mexican gent holding a 'chupacabra' head that did the rounds a few years back (which was a dog head if i remember correctly)... It's an eBay thing as well.
The guy selling this on eBay (or trying to sell it... eBay seems to have cancelled the auction) claims that he found the "cryptid creature" washed up on a beach in Tampa, Florida. He writes: "I guarantee that this creatures flesh, teeth, jaw and skull are REAL 100% once living, organic flesh and bones." In other words, the flesh, teeth, jaw and skull are all real, but from separate creatures put together by taxidermical arts. Still, it looks like a well-made monster. I wouldn't mind having it on display in my office. (Oh, and that chupacabra head Alex referred to... I assume he's talking about this picture of an alien head taken by artist Charlie White.)

image image image image

Cryptozoology eBay

Posted on Mon Jun 19, 2006


Comments

Looks like an embellished baboon skull to me.
Posted by JoeDaJuggler  on  Mon Jun 19, 2006  at  11:15 AM
He has sold other items in the past like a mermaid that he found on the beach, etc
Posted by Rob  on  Mon Jun 19, 2006  at  12:37 PM
the auction is back up.
Posted by thephrog  on  Mon Jun 19, 2006  at  03:32 PM
Yup, I think that's a baboon skull.
Posted by Citizen Premier  on  Mon Jun 19, 2006  at  11:51 PM
http://www.thefeejeemermaid.com/gallery1.htm
Here is the guys site, these are some other taxidermy gaffs (fakes) he has made.
Posted by samemo  on  Tue Jun 20, 2006  at  04:27 AM
He should have at least made the little beasts features proportionately believable. The thing doesn't even LOOK real at a glance in the thumbnails Alex posted, and when you look at the full sized image, it's laughable... bad hoax. BAD, BAD HOAX!!
Posted by Christopher  on  Tue Jun 20, 2006  at  05:30 AM
Christopher, these are mysterious and rare creatures! how dare you act as if you are some sort of mermaid/monster anatomy expert!
Posted by Katey  on  Tue Jun 20, 2006  at  06:39 AM
Baboon - fish chimera, that is my opinion too
Posted by LaMa  on  Tue Jun 20, 2006  at  01:05 PM
No, this is not a hoax; it's art. A R T.

Juan Cabana clearly states on his website that he makes these things.

Read a little closer between the lines. What Cabana is really selling is a bit of the old Barnum sideshow fantasy.
Posted by Nightbringer  on  Wed Jun 21, 2006  at  05:52 AM
It looks like my cousin Bethany.....
Posted by SoDuh!  on  Sun Jul 09, 2006  at  09:28 PM
Christopher in Joplin, Missouri if you think you can do better lets see it. Juan Cabana creates very realistic looking mermaids and monsters in my opinion. I don't see anyone else in the world doing what he does. Juan is ahead of his time...a rare gifted artist.
Posted by Sam Rousch  on  Tue Sep 19, 2006  at  09:25 AM
Combination of baboon skull and fish.This has been around since medieval.The term is Jenny hanniver.It is a(rather weird)artfform
Posted by J  on  Sat Oct 21, 2006  at  02:06 AM
Holy shit thats a crazy looking fish....
Posted by Janelle christopherson  on  Thu May 10, 2007  at  04:49 PM
All of you who says Juan makes realistic mermaids and creatures, need to be quiet. Because have any of you seen a real mermaid to know that his portrayal of a mermaid is right. Or are yall going by what yall see in books!!!!
Posted by AliG  on  Mon May 14, 2007  at  08:46 PM
wow.. i really thought this was a beast from the sea Oo and as i watched the other work i was simply amazed 😊 this is art as nightbringer said.
i wished i knew how you make them xD
AWESOME!!!
Posted by Kim  on  Fri Jul 20, 2007  at  07:11 AM
The aboved shown pictures of the sea monster was created by Juan Cabana. He used to sell his taxidermy creations all the timein E-bay. Creating monstrous animals by using animal carcasses has a long history and they have been collected for Cabinet of Curiosities. They are specialized artists.

"Rogue taxidermy artists" like Nate Hill and Takeshi Yamada (both live in Brooklyn, NY) "creates" new animals, mythic creatures and simple monsters by using carcasses of animals.

Yamada is currently a part of the "Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids" exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, New York. (until January 6, 2007 Yamada also undertook live art demonstration on June 24, 2007 and gave an art lecture on July 10, 2007 at AMNH. I enjoyed these events very much. Here are his websites.
http://sideshowworld.com/SSA-15.html
http://www.roguetaxidermy.com/me...tail.php? id=528

Nate Hill does not have many art exhibitions like Yamada but recently started China Town taxidermy specimens collection tour for public for free in Manhattan, which is very cool. Here is his website.
http://www.roguetaxidermy.com/me...tail.php? id=142

Both Hill and Yamada were featured in TimeOut New York magazine with comprehensive interview recently. I would love to see more monstrous artists like them in this monstrous city of New York.

Jack in Brooklyn, NY
Posted by Jack London  on  Fri Jul 27, 2007  at  03:03 AM
It is obviously a faux artifact.
According to my scientific studies, because of the creature's body structure it could not have lived past its first year of life.
Posted by Nicole Harpor  on  Thu Aug 02, 2007  at  06:15 PM
i must say it is a work of art, though.
I fancie the finer works of art in life.
But a creation it is...
Posted by Nicole Harpor  on  Thu Aug 02, 2007  at  06:48 PM
omg that freaky i saw that in my backyard while i was camping!!
Posted by maddy  on  Sun Aug 12, 2007  at  04:32 PM
Come on people.... You can tell it's a baboon (or similar ape) head taxidermied into a fish body. I think it's real and it's actually well done art.
Posted by Marine Engineers Beneficial  on  Tue Aug 14, 2007  at  09:55 AM
Y0U GUYS ARE SAYiNG iT L00KS LiKE A BAB00 SKULL 0R WHATEVER, BUT THEN H0W D0 Y0U EXPLAiN THE SCALEY TEXTURE AND EVERYTHiNG??
Posted by kierstin  on  Tue Sep 25, 2007  at  05:51 PM
cool dude!it was awesome!even though its fake, i really liked it! :wow:
Posted by joearge  on  Wed Nov 14, 2007  at  01:01 AM
I have seen the works of Takeshi Yamada and quite a few of them seem to have been ripped off from a Japanese artist named Hajime Emoto who has 2 books out on his creations.
Yamada's Fiji Mermaid is made from paper while Cabana's are always made from real fish skin and real monkey parts.
I would rather see a REAL mermaid than one made from paper, anyday.
Posted by Andre  on  Thu Dec 13, 2007  at  11:11 PM
The artistic creations of Juan Cabana can be seen at thefeejeemermaid.com
Juan recreates creatures from long ago and creates original sea monsters ( such as the one featured in this article ) using authentic fish skins, fins and teeth.
Recently he has been featured with a 2 page spread in the new Ripley's Believe It or Not book. Juan is the BEST around. His creations are sold as works of art.
Posted by andre  on  Thu Dec 13, 2007  at  11:25 PM
:sick: That is pretty disturbing.Please do not read the following if you think you can't handle something grosser.





That's a baboon skull with dead dried out angler fish parts and taxidermy. :cheese:
Posted by gibson  on  Sun Mar 23, 2008  at  11:26 AM
oh,hey Kierstin.THIS is the muesuem of HOAXES!!!
Posted by gibson  on  Sun Mar 23, 2008  at  11:29 AM
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