THE discovery of a mysterious creature with no eyes has left authorities stumped after it washed up on shore.
(Image: PEN NEWS)
Sherry Simmons, 47, found the unidentified beast on the beach while walking her French Bulldog, Tank.
At first she thought it was a large piece of petrified wood, but when she got up close she saw it was nothing of the sort.
She recalled: “As I got closer I realised it was some sort of creature. I poked it with a stick and it was soft to the touch.
“There is a small fin, but the weird part is that there were no eyes anywhere. It looked really heavy.”
(Image: PEN NEWS)
“As you can see it is strange looking – if you look down at the thick end, you will see what looks like a leg,” she continued.
“But if you follow it back into the water it looks like a fin. Other than that there were little to no features evident.”
Sherry is stumped as to what it is and was quick to vacate the scene with her small puppy.
She added: “I was a little scared as it was not identifiable.
“If I had not had my puppy with me I would have investigated further.”
The creature, which was discovered on Mulambin Beach in Queensland, Australia, has proved a mystery to the authorities.
This comes as a half-shark half-dolphin was spotted in Australia.
Sherry, from nearby Yeppoon, thought maybe it was a dugong, also known as a sea cow or a manatee, and contacted Sea World in Gold Coast.
They agreed that it could indeed be a dugong, however scientists at Queensland’s environment department don’t agree.
They say it could potentially be a shark liver, but they were unable to recover the carcass and so they can’t say for sure.
“The deceased animal in the photo appears to be a marine mammal,” a spokesman said.
“But due to decomposition and limited information available, it is difficult to determine what species.
“The stranding has not been reported to us and our officers searched the beach and found no sign of the carcass, which may have been washed away with the tide.”
Sherry, who manages the Discovery holiday park in Coolwaters, Yeppoon, said it brought home how much humans still don’t know about the sea.
She said: “Now that I discovered this creature, I think there is a huge amount we humans don’t know that we think we do.
“Think about the odds that we would know every single animal, mammal, and creature that’s ever existed.
“It’s impossible and I’m not quite sure we will ever get there to be honest because things evolve.
“There are new species of plants and trees that are being discovered through natural evolution.”
