UPDATED: Mystery object may have been identified

my stepdad said it look like a calf or pig.

If it's a pig it could still be alive but very tired - I hope someone has been sensible enough to get the rescue services or RSPCA.

i saw the picture and thouht it was the opening of some new public toilets to replace the bus station ones !

How the bloody hell can you not differentiate between a small turtle and big fat pig?! Hahahaha

perhaps its a wale or a dolphin washed off corse by the sunami in Japan? @cedarbox, pigs float so I don't think its one of those. Pigs are lighter than water I saw a program about it on Sky3

There was a dead sheep in there the other day, maybe its that

no thats in langport now. I saw it at the weekend. It was definely dead. No breathing.

if it was a pig then it will just be left just like the cow last year which was reported to many people who didnt wanna know it was then out at steart rotted and even then the stinking carcus was left there.

This story just goes to prove all we need to attract people to the town centre is the occasional UFO in the river! (Unidentified Floating Object)

was it a big cat? :-)

It is the remnants of the dignity of sdc

Small picture, hard to make it out, looks a bit like a Ghoul.

Son of Dredgewater , Bridgwater. Well said nobody else spotted that !! I looked at the picture with the coach facing this way and Eastover behind where was the coach going ? Looks like a National Express and there is no way it would have driven around passed the old Argos and past the library unless the road has been widened since 8.30am this morning.Just an observation.

the coach was blatantly dropping tourists off to see what was making headline news!

It wouldn't be that large then XDDD

I cant believe this is news... is there that little going on round Bridgwater?

Ah, that's why there's a crowd, they were on the bus! Anything odd in Bridgwater and they bus 'em in!!

Kit the Brit...get printing those "parrot ness" t-shirts!!

Is it the Mercury's journalistic integrity, floating away downstream?

Found it! http://io9.com/#!578 8831/it-took-a-few-d ozen-people-includin g-special-forces-sol diers-to-capture-thi s-sacred-giant-turtl e/gallery/

Found it! http://io9.com/#!578 8831/it-took-a-few-d ozen-people-includin g-special-forces-sol diers-to-capture-thi s-sacred-giant-turtl e/gallery/

its a giant turd left by someone who didnt make it from bus station to closest open public toilets

eeeeer, i just troid floating a pig. DIDN'T BLOODY WORK! You owe me a prize pig now @cedarbox. Who's going to keep me warm at night now?!

I reckon its some household waste that someone was forced to dump because they couldn't afford the new charge (fine) at the recycling centre...

It was Yeovil Town's former player Warren Patmore.

It is quite obvious that it is the Virgin Mary in the water there.

@lovelysunshinefluff ybunny "@cedarbox, pigs float so I don't think its one of those. Pigs are lighter than water I saw a program about it on Sky3" No no, that's witches.

It's exactly what scally666 suggested. Someone was caught short when they realised that the bus station loos had been closed. It's not a pig, it's a turdle!

I've just checked on Wikipedia and witches definitely float. It's definitely witch.

it's really quite cute, so i think it might be a seal. or one of them sea lions. they're pretty cute too. they don't half move quick in the water, though.

looks like a leprechaun to me!

i heard about i from Mrs Pooter this morn.g and decided to go down and see what i was i madsome sanwitches they was cheese and som pickles soem of that nice carpffily cheddr and branstons and i tuk a bottle of beer butthere was no thing to sea escept some trouists lookig over the brige and then i saw the pig thinmg swiming and it made a noise that sounded like it a parot and it made me spill some o.f the beeer and then i saw bill cuthbert and he ask me for a drink of me beer and then tried to wipe his hands on my skrit and i said no bills you dun do that and he laguhed like a mental man and sounded a bit like the pig thing and then i got scarred and went homo

Thinking there could be a movie in this!? A great vehicle for Ant and Dec after the desaterous Alien Autopsy - or perhaps Mitchell and Webb(ed). Webb could be the object and Mitchell a renegade cop on the trail of the object's sinister plot to distract the Bridgwater population from a local criminal's plot to rob Greggs!

This non-story reflects more on this 'news' website than the people of Bridgwater to be honest.

And in next week's Bridgwater Mercury 'Crowd points at big silver bird in the sky'

Looks like a coach to me.

Dear Readers, rest assured we will let you know of any developments in this major breaking story. Our entire news team will be working round-the-clock to establish whether it was indeed a turtle or a pig. I understand David Cameron will be making a statement on the matter in the House of Commons tomorrow, but this has not yet been confirmed. Watch this space, Matthew Colledge Mercury News Editor

It's a shopping trolley.

"...entire news team..." What, both of you?

I dunno of this helps, but the name quoted in the story "Coral Pople" is an anagram of "Recall Poop"....... something sinister? ;)

Two things; 1;It's either an Alien, a dead body or one of the above suggestions of Cow/pig/turdle. Whatever it is... 2: MAN THE HARPOONS!!!

They're waiting for the gates to open to our new Swimming pool - Massive pool with it's own built in mini tidal wave every so often. Could do with a bit more chlorine in the water though :)

Am I the only one wincing at the grammatical error in this headline? Shame on you, Mercury sub-editor.

Phew. It's been changed. I can now read on...

Is this object by any chance wearing a concrete overcoat?

How can you mistake a pig for a turtle. It look's like a lump of turd to me.

........as I said before - a turdle!

What a lovely site this has caused at least we all had a laugh at the comments. Well most of us at least I expect there are one or two miseries around somewhere who dont have a sense of humour.

What a lovely site this has caused at least we all had a laugh at the comments. Well most of us at least I expect there are one or two miseries around somewhere who dont have a sense of humour.

Crowds of slack-jawed locals gather on the town bridge to point at a floater. How deliciously NFB!

When people start parking on Double yellow lines and on grass then it's surely End of Days, Armageddon. Cats and Dogs living together. Pure Anarchy. I also don't care for people calling my Wife a pig whilst having a swim. Harrumph!

Let me tell you, after reading these stories, I'm never going to drink water straight from the river again.

You silly fools that was me floating down that river, don't you understand it was me that you were all gawping at as I drifted hopelessly under the bridge. Well I'm out now and I'm coming back to get you....suckers! Mwahahahaha! regards Turtlepigman

Am I the only one that noticed the comment about floating stones.. 'Julie Benson, from Taylors Barbers, said he thought the object was a stone' He?? must be very confused!

I was surprised to hear about this on Radio 1 last night - "Breaking news from the West country!" The main story they were running was how someone could mistake a pig for a turtle ;) At first I thought it was a wind up til I heard it was in the Bridgwater Mercury! I have no idea what it could be though, probably just a plastic bag...

That was your wife? Phew, that was a close one. I was going to try to shag it when I thought it was a pig.

Official-Its not a turtle or a pig-its the Parrot Boar

Classic comments, in tears reading them. Is it a turtle, a pig, a turtle pig, a witch or even one of those rarely seen floating stones....LMAO. Seriously though, I'm just negotiating the lease on what will be Bridgwaters first Turtle-Pig-Parrett Monster Gift Shop and Tea Rooms. The first 500 'I seen the Turtle-Pig-Parrett Monster' t-shirts are being printed as we speak.

Turtle pig, turtle pig, Does whatever a turtle pig does, Can he swim by the bridge No He's a pig Loooook oooouuuut Don't shag the turtle pig

"The first 500 'I seen the Turtle-Pig-Parrett Monster' t-shirts are being printed as we speak." Can you let us know c/o Tim Blair in the Sydney Daily Telegraph when the shirts are ready? I'll take two, thanks. Nothing so exciting has ever happened in Wagga Wagga. I'm jealous.

"Why arn't all these crowded people at work?" Because this is Bridgwater where they build new houses all the time but never anywhere for people to work! I can see it now, Carnival 2011, Gremlins - TurtlePiG Its probably a dead football stuck in a supermarket trolley and three people stood there pointing at it! You know it works you've done it yourselves. Get a few people to look at something and point a bit and before you know it there are crowds doing it, press taking photos and putting it on there website, then it gets on the social networks and before you know it its on News at 10!

I'm surprised there is a mystery as it will most likely be related to one quarter of the town's residents (i.e those that share one of Bridgwater's four surnames) If something odd were found in the river at Cheddar we would simply sell it to one of the simpletons over in the neighbouring village of Axbridge

I think that it is the head of a small pig or perhaps a larger sort of dog. I have seen similar strange sights when I was in the armed forces. I am eighty-four. We should remember that it may be an ominous portent of imminent evil. Beware Bridgwater.

How could they tell Bridgwater had been bought to a standstill? Was there some announcement?

We all stood still. Duh.

I can't believe the incredible stupidity of people in this town. Standing there, staring at a dying animal and not doing anything to help, All it would take is a simple phone call to the RSPCA. Goes to prove that people don't have real lives if they can stand there for 45mins to 2hrs staring at an animal, drowning to death. Pathetic!

Hate to spoil all the speculation, but I just drove over Town bridge and now its low tide you can clearly see a dead sheep caught up on a log, mystery solved. EWE F O indeed

Here is your answer... http://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=Ukrtoa_d4 aw&feature=player_em bedded#at=158 Sorted?

Do you mean to tell me this mystery still hasn't been solved?!!! I'm on tenterhooks here, we HAVE to know! please, WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!?!?!?!?

Julie Benson thought the object was a STONE? Wait, what? They float?

And now another big earthquake in Japan. Clearly turtlepig = portent of evil.

i find the picture of the turtle pig strangely arousing. his sexy little flippers. his wrinkly little nose. where might i find such a specimen, and what sort of lubricant would be appropriate. ps i don't want the one that's in the parret, with all those people looking at it. has it no shame. ugh. dirty. dirty.

Excellent work by Tanya Clarke! She comments in the latest article that she saw the pig drowning yet she didnt think to contact someone to maybe save it! NICE!!!

'Excellent work by Tanya Clarke! She comments in the latest article that she saw the pig drowning yet she didnt think to contact someone to maybe save it! NICE!!!' She was just passing by cos i was with her. She wasn't the one standing there staring at it for 2 hours like others were so why don't you have a go at them? Don't just assume what you don't know. Don't jump to conclusions. And the other hundred odd selfish b*****s that was there could have called someone. So don't just pin the blame on someone who was only passing by!

Anyone can see that it was a big cat.....fish.

Several people asked why no one called the RSPCA, have any of you ever tried? I did once last year, to say they were useless would be an understatement, the TurtlePig would have been fossilized by the time they got there! Calling Secret World would have been a better suggestion!

If an animal is suffering - no matter what it is - please call the RSPCA. This includes an animal drowning...at least try to save it.

I had a dream,about a giant turtle the night before,then saw loads of people looking in the river Parett,knew it was weird has this thing been identified yet ?

I had a dream,about a giant turtle the night before,then saw loads of people looking in the river Parett,knew it was weird has this thing been identified yet ?

does anyone know what this thing is for real. I believe its a warning sign for this town, a good thing really,we want Marks and Spencers back lol

Tone it down Taunton lol, at least you have a real town

I do love the humour in this town. Brilliant....... This is a "here today gone tomorrow" story, light-hearted and put a smile on my face....... Why isn't the Mercury running with something that could be life changing and will effect the town severely with traffic to Hinkley Point C

Looked a bit Orange, an floating like a witch. Tis Henson, back to sign for Albion.

No, it wasn"t the Ghould, she"s been seen since. It isn"t Mr. Blobby either, he"s still around too. For how long?. Interesting question. A curse was cast upon Mr. Blobby, over a year ago, that he should "Die of natural causes within one year". Doesn"t seem to have worked, but rumour has it he is coughing a lot recently. Was is it, T.B? (Tuberculosis?). You certainly wouldn"t wish that on Mr. Blobby, let alone the horrors of lung cancer. Maybe his cough isn"t too serious?.

Common, Mr. Blobby, folk are sick of you setting their homes on fire, hiring thugs to lauch sledgehammer attacks on their cars and houses, and generally being the village bully. Why are you a bully, Mr. Blobby?. Did dad thrash you too much when you were a kid, and that"s all you know?. Why don"t you go back where you came from, to Hell, on a one-way ticket?. Send the village folk a nice postcard when you get there.

If this guess has any ring of truth in it, Blobby baby, maybe dad thrashed you, but never tried to frighten you with stories of the Bogeyman?. Now you are an adult, at least in years of age,if not in mentality, you should be aware that there IS a Bogeyman, and the Bogeyman is on your trail. Is the Bogeyman coming to get you, or maybe not?. How will you know?. When your fat flesh creeps with terror, that"s when you"ll know.

Mr Blobby knows no shame. He sets a local house on fire, together with the Kiddy, and comes a few seconds away from murdering an innocent woman. Then he carries on as normal. It is not personal, Mr. Blobby, but you really need to be dead and buried, very soon, to save innocent victims from your sick viciousness.

If the honest folk of Zoyland ever wonder why Blobby and the Kiddy set their neighbour"s house on fire, rumour has it that the Ghould was prevented from creating an illegal access to her land, off their drive. That"s why blobby and the Kiddy nearly murdered their neighbours. Not for any other reason, simply because of that. That"s the story in their village, despite disinformation and lies the Ghoul and her Clan have spread. Honest people of Zoyland, why do you tolerate this nest of vipers in your midst?.

Blobby baby, did it ever cross your mind that the Ghoul almost got u locked up because u took her scheming at face value?. She knew **** well there was no mistake in the land issue. You stepped in where angels feared. So who"s the sucker here, Blobby?. You of course. Maybe now ur nice new home is nearly ready, u can just dump the fooking bustrd and move in there. It was cosy enough in her lair for a while.

Hey Blobby they got Mr. Bin Laden. Do u recall how the hijackers cut the stewardesses throat with a box cutter?. This is all nightmare stuff.