How embarrassed would you feel?

From: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3273562a4560,00.html

Sea life mistaken for severed genitals on Auckland beach
09 May 2005
By TOM FITZSIMONS

Only in Auckland . . . a beachside stroll turned into a morbid moment for one Northerner at the weekend when they thought they had found a severed human penis.

While most people search the sands for rare shells or stones, the unlucky walker was so distressed at the rare find that they phoned police.

The report: one set of severed male genitalia, including penis and testicles, lying on Eastern Beach near Manukau. However, it was a premature communication, as the savvy police officers determined when they arrived on the scene. The suspected male appendage was in fact a form of marine life.

Police northern communications spokesman Andrew Brill said the call was completely out of the ordinary for his team.

It was not known what the offending object was – “maybe seaweed, maybe some sort of anemone . . . but it was apparently very realistic”, he said.

The police officers would have worked out the mystery fairly easily.

“I assume they poked and prodded it and sniffed it to work it out.”