Viral Photo: Mysterious Sea Creature Looks Like a Cross Between a Crocodile and Dolphin

Viral Photo: Mysterious Sea Creature Looks Like a Cross Between a Crocodile and Dolphin
Epoch Newsroom
2/16/2016
Updated:
2/16/2016

A strange sea creature washed ashore in Australia that has some claiming it’s from prehistoric times.

The bizarre creature, which has been described as a cross between a crocodile and a dolphin, washed up on the banks of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales.

Facebook user Ethan Tipper snapped a picture, and posted it online in the hopes of finding someone who could identify the creature.

“What the [expletive] is it?” he wondered.

The creature has a snout and sharp teeth resembling a croc, but its head is similar to a dolphin’s.

It also has a long slender body without legs.

The creature remains a mystery to some, but Australian Museum fish collector Mark McGrouther told the Daily Mail that he believes it’s a pike eel, which are native to the country’s east coast and are rarely seen.

“This is the first time I have ever seen one of them in the flesh,” he said. “I suspect it was caught and discarded by fisherman who got more than they bargained for when they tried to reel it in.”

Robert Tyndall, who claims to have found the creature in Swansea, told the Newcastle Herald that it was indeed a pike eel.

“I knew it was some kind of eel and it’s a big eel, but it definitely looks bigger,” he said. “I think everyone enjoys using their imagination. Judging by the comments, it was growing by the minute.”