Creatures, Myths & Legends

Bizarre sea creature washes up in New Zealand

By T.K. Randall
November 28, 2018

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) It was found by local resident Hanna Mary and her mother last Saturday.

"First I thought it was a plastic sheeting," she said. "I pulled it out from underneath the sticks and it was a bit more than just a piece of plastic."

"My first thought was that it was something alien, but I was more fascinated than anything."

After a local taxidermist failed to identify it, Hanna decided to upload images of the discovery on to Facebook in the hope that someone online would be able to determine what it was.According to Dr Malcolm Francis of The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), the creature is most likely a male rough skate (Dipturus nasutus).

"They are called rough skate because they are very prickly... it's quite common in Canterbury," he said. "It's like flat shark, it has a skeleton made out of cartilage."

"They spend much of their time on the bottom."



Source: New Zealand Herald

Tags: New Zealand, Creature