South Shore beach.

And yesterday Bermuda Aquarium & Zoo curator Wolfgang Sterrer admitted Island scientists were at the moment stumped by the creature.

He said: "It's definitely a piece of a large marine creature -- but that is as far as we can go.'' Dr. Sterrer and scientists from Government and the Bermuda Biological Station examinied the find yesterday and cut away samples from the huge whitish blob for analysis.

Dr. Sterrer said: "The gut instinct right now is it's a piece of a whale.

"But the gut instinct is not always right so it's better to stick to science and find out for sure.'' The half-ton scientific enigma was spotted by a passer-by on the beach near Surfside Cottages in Warwick on Saturday morning.

Scientists stumped by beached `blob' Examination revealed the massive find has fatty tissue on the outside with very tough fibrous matter underneath, as well as muscle and blood vessels.

Scientists know the flesh did not come from a shark -- which leaves the possibility of it being part of a giant squid, which are known to live deep in the ocean around Bermuda, or part of a whale. Now pieces of the blob have been taken away for tests, including DNA analysis at the Bio Station, to solve the mystery.

Dr. Sterrer said: "You never know -- it might be something completely new.

Bermuda is a wonderful place to receive the mysteries of the deep.'' The blob is the second marine mystery to wash up on the Island's shores in recent years.

A similar blob was discovered by celebrated diver Terry Tucker in 1988. Mr.

Tucker described his find as "white, fibrous and dense''.

Mr. Tucker said he cut pieces off the organism and sent them to US scientists for analysis -- but they were unable to say conclusively what the material was.

BERMUDA BLOB! -- A sea-borne marine mystery washed up on South Shore is examined by (left) Government fisheries scientist Dr. Brian Luckhurst and Bermuda Aquarium veterinarian Dr. Ian Walker.