A man was left perplexed after stumbling upon a unidentified creature washed up on a Merseyside beach.
The decomposing specimen was discovered by the Lifeboat Road car park in Formby. It was found by Dominic Murphy while he was taking a walk along the beach with his cousin yesterday evening.
The creature had partially decomposed and is believed to be around two foot long. Dominic, who is from Crosby, has not been able to identify the species of sea bird and on initial inspection believed it was a penguin.
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Speaking to the ECHO Dominic said: "I don't know what it is, we saw it on the beach and I took a couple of photos of it. We were arguing amongst ourselves over what we thought it was.
"Initially I thought "is that a penguin?", but obviously it's not. It's shaped like one but we are in Liverpool not the Antarctic. My cousin said it was a pigeon but it is definitely not a pigeon I haven't got a clue what it is."
After sharing a photograph of the creature with friends on WhatsApp, discussions grew about what the bird could be and where it may have come from. However none of Dominic's friends were able to shed any light on the mystery.
Dominic, 26, said: "If you look at it it's got feathers and a beak, so it is not a penguin. My cousin was laughing at me when I said it because he was wondering how something like that could end up in Formby."
A spokesperson from Green Sefton said: "The bird is called a Guillemot, a member of the auk family. It is not a penguin. Guillemots breed on cliffs around North Wales and Anglesey and often feed in Liverpool Bay and in the inshore waters along the Sefton coast. Fatalities through disease, injury or hunger often wash up along our beaches."
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