'Sea Monster' Photographed In Waters Off Greece

A Scottish tourist visiting Greece snapped an image of a mysterious creature in the water that some are calling a "sea monster." 

The image captured by Harvey Robertson shows what looks like a cross between a hippopotamus and a dolphin:

Robertson told Fox News that he was on a cruise ship touring the caves off the coast of Parga when he stuck his iPhone out over the water and snapped the image without looking. 

"I didn't actually see the animal at the time as was trying to capture the water color (fluorescent blue) at the point before becoming black," Robertson told the website. “You can only imagine my surprise when I was looking back through my photos.”

The website said some people believe the creature may be a Cuvier's beaked whale, such as this one:

However, the creature in Robertson's photo has a much more dramatic hippo-like snout. 

It's possible the angle or the water is causing some distortion in the image. Since there is nothing to provide perspective, it's hard to tell how large -- or small -- the "creature" may be. 

And there's always the possibility the photo is a fake.  

"If the photograph is not a hoax, it could be interesting, cryptozoologically speaking," Loren Coleman, director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine, said. "It might be photographic evidence of a new species or it could be a reconfiguration (a behavioral restructuring of the body form of a mundane known species, like a squid, for example) not usually seen."

Coleman, co-author of "The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep," said one of the biggest obstacles with sea sightings such as this one is judging the credibility of the witness and photos. 

"Most new species from the seas are, therefore, only confirmed from beachings and when a random specimen is caught," Coleman said. "This Greek wonder, therefore, for now, must be firmly filed in the 'known unknowns' folder."

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