A mysterious object which washed up on a beach near Auckland in New Zealand has baffled locals, who have nicknamed it the 'Muriwai monster'.
Resident Melissa Doubleday found the giant item washed up on Muriwai Beach and posted photos of it on Facebook, asking if anyone knew what it was.
Among the more than 100 suggestions from Facebook commenters were a Rastafarian whale, an alien time capsule, a sea monster with dreadlocks, a walrus, a Maori canoe and a beach Christmas tree.
"I actually thought it was a washed up whale as I approached it, so weird," Ms Doubleday told New Zealand news site .
The 'Muriwai monster', which washed up on a beach in New Zealand. Source: Facebook/Melissa Doubleday
The curious object has made news around the world, but it seems the 'Muriwai monster' is nothing sinister.
The New Zealand Marine Sciences Society told they were "almost positive from looking at the images" that it was a piece of driftwood covered in gooseneck barnacles.
The barnacles are crustaceans which grow in clusters and cling to rocks, driftwood and shipwrecks.
Since posting her original question, Doubleday has been back to Muriwai Beach and reported back that "everything on it has died now, and it smells really bad".
A close up of the 'Muriwai monster', showing the gooseneck barnacles. Source: Facebook/Melissa Doubleday
