Mystery marine creature washes up on beach

The mystery of a marine creature which washed up on a New Zealand beach and created an online stir appears to have been solved.

The creature was washed up on a Bay of Plenty beach and filmed by a group of quad bikers before being washed back out to sea, reports The Bay of Plenty Times.

Information posted below the video suggests the creature ‘has a huge head and teeth with rudimentary flippers … it seems about 9m in length but the lower part of the body is probably mainly entrails from an attack’.

Initially it was not known what kind of creature it was - or if it was in fact a hoax.

However,the clip was sent to marine mammal expert Anton van Helden and he reckons the creature could be a killer whale.

“The video pans over the flipper and it is a flat paddle shape which is diagnostic of the killer whale,” he said.

“It is very typical for whales of different shapes and sizes to wash up on beaches around New Zealand.”