After washing up on Bondi Beach, a strange sea creature has perplexed locals, with few able to agree on what it is.
A freaky “alien creature from the deep” has left locals mystified
Surprising beachgoers discovered the strange ‘alien-like’ animal among washed-up debris on Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach.
Drew Lambert and a friend came across the bloated animal with ‘human-like lips.’
A mysterious, alien-like creature has washed up on a beach on Bondi Beach and has left locals stunned
The strange creature appeared to have human-like lips, a curled tail and shark-like skin
Mr Lambert shared a photo and video of the animal with a local Facebook group in the hopes that others could identify it.
‘I just looked at it… what the hell, does this fish have human lips on it? It looked like it was puckering up for a kiss,’ Mr Lambert told Yahoo News.
Mr Lambert initially thought the creature was a shark because it had a tail and skin, but he quickly dismissed that theory because it lacked a dorsal fin.
‘I thought [but] the mouth is on the underside. And it’s got grey leather-like skin like a shark. But it doesn’t have that dorsal fin at the top like a shark so I was really confused,’ he said.
Most residents thought the animal was a bloated stingray, and that the curled tail and organ swelling occurred after it died, giving it an enlarged appearance.
‘It’s Bondi, even the rays have botox,’ one comment joked.
One shrewd user wrote: ‘It’s an Australian numbfish. They produce electricity when touched. Crazy fact.’
Laetitia Hannan, supervisor at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium, confirmed the animal was a numbfish or coffin ray.
According to Ms Hannan, the numbfish, a type of elasmobranch, is known to bite off more than it can chew and may have eaten something too large for itself, contributing to its engorged size.
She also confirmed that the bloated appearance was caused by the decomposition process that fills animals with gas.
Photo: ST
Photo: ST