Members of social media site Reddit have been left baffled after images of mysterious sea creature washed up dead on a UK beach were posted on the platform.
The animal has been dubbed 'baby Loch Ness Monster' by Reddit users, due to its resemblance to the creature from Scottish folklore.
According to Metro, its corpse was shared on Reddit thread r/CasualUK by a passer-by who was left perplexed by the discovery.
They wrote: "Found this on the beach the other day, anyone know what it is?"
The animal appears to have a flat, rounded head, four legs or fins of varying sizes and a long tail. Its body is dark grey in colour with white spots on its head right down to the tail.
Shocked Reddit users rushed to the comments section to discuss what the creature could be, with one comparing it to a "sleep paralysis demon" while others dubbed the animal "baby Nessie" after the Loch Ness Monster.
On a similar but less mythical theme, some people suggested it could be a "dinosaur".
The Daily Star reports that other users were more specific and guessed "liopleurodon", a carnivorous marine reptile that went extinct in the Late Jurassic Period.
While some of the white markings on the washed-up animal do resemble what scientists think the liopleurodon may have looked like, some Reddit users had more realistic suggestions about the species.
One user explained: "It's a ray without any wings. Male going by the claspers. Probably processed at sea and the carcass was chucked overboard."
A second user seemed to agree, adding: "It looks like a ray but without fins."
A few others who claimed to have sea fishing experience all agreed that it was some form of ray, with its wings either removed by fishermen or eaten by a predator.
However, this is not the first time a mysterious sea creature has been found washed up on a beach and found by passers-by
Last month, a pig-like creature was found washed up on a beach in Galway, Ireland.
Images of the unknown sea beast were doing the rounds on social media on November 12, showing the unfortunate sight laid on the popular tourist beach.
According to Galway Beo, the snaps were posted with the caption: "Some sort of sea creature washed up at Bearna Pier beach over the last few windy days.
"Sea Lion? Seal? In fact, it looks like a pig!"
Later, they added: "I looked it up and I reckon it's a seal as the front flippers are quite short.
"Also discovered we should report all dead seals to Seal Rescue Ireland as they track seal deaths (who knew?). I sent them photos but couldn't see a tag on its hind flippers and was not brave enough to try to turn it over just in case things got squidgy."
