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A large object washed up on a beach in New Zealand has attracted international attention and left locals speculating as to what it could be.
Melissa Doubleday posted a photo of what she saw on the beach on the North Island to the Muriwai & Waimauku Area Community Group Facebook page, asking if anybody could identify it.
Suggestions came in the form of a Caribbean walrus, a sea monster’s dreadlocks, an alien pod time capsule and a beach Christmas tree.
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However, the most likely explanation is that it is a large piece of driftwood covered in gooseneck barnacles, which are filter-feeding crustaceans that live attached to rocks and flotsam and are considered a delicacy in Spain, reports The Guardian.
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On Monday, Ms Doubleday said that the object, which washed up on the beach on Saturday has “died now, and it smells really bad.”