Gothamist

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Gothamist

WNYC Listen Live

Donate

 

 

News

Is the Montauk Monster All Washed Up?


By

Jen Carlson

Published Aug 1, 2008

Modified Aug 1, 2008


Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail


Never miss a story

 Email address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .


By

Jen Carlson

Published Aug 1, 2008

Modified Aug 1, 2008


Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail


We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

While you were sleeping, the Montauk Monster story kept spinning, this time landing on PlumTV, Newsday and...CNN. In an attempt to reassure a jittery public, the CNN quotes "experts" who say it's either a dog or raccoon; some think it may have washed up from the Plum Island Animal Disease Center.

Newsday got a hold of another photo, which some people think makes the "monster" look much more canine (maybe that Corwin guy does know what he's talking about). However, Christina Pampalone and Ryan O'Shea (takers of the latest image, thumbnail in left corner), aren't convinced, saying, "Everybody I showed pictures to said it looks like a dead dog. But looking at the claws, and at the teeth in the front, it looked like it could be something else, something vicious." Newsday also reports that this isn't the first monster the ocean has spit up; one was allegedly found last month at Jones Beach, and one witness claims to have see it alive in the Montauk dunes.

Meanwhile, over at PlumTV they talk to the photographer, Jenna Hewitt (and friends), who took the original photo everyone has been trying to decipher. A scientist told them it's definitely not a dog, because its feet and eye ridge don't match up -- until someone can help them identify the poor thing, however, they're keeping the remains in a box. See their clip after the jump.

Tagged

bloated

dead

dog

monster

Montauk

montauk monster


Jen Carlson

Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Read more

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


MORE news

Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says

It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.

By

Liam Quigley

Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET


New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ

The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.

By

Arya Sundaram

News

New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ

The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.

By

Arya Sundaram


A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.

By

Samantha Max

Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910

By

Michael Sol Warren

NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding

By

Ramsey Khalifeh


Never miss a story

Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.

Sign upEmail address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .