"While Sascha Hooker, a marine mammal expert at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, narrowed it down further. 'To me, this animal looks like a severely decomposed cetacean,' he said, as quoted from Live Science."

The most common cetaceans in the Papua New Guinea region are short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris), pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata), and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus). This is based on a study conducted in 2021 in the Pacific Science journal.

Other experts also believe that it could be one of the fat marine mammals, which previously inspired stories about mermaids. "My best estimate is that it is likely a Dugong," said Jens Currie, the chief scientist of the Pacific Whale Foundation in Hawaii.

Based on the image of the remaining head section, the creature appears to be too wide to be a cetacean, he added. "The amount of fat also indicates a marine mammal and not a shark," said Currie.