A giant barnacle-covered shape that washed up on Auckland's Muriwai Beach has locals scratching their heads.
Or as beach-goer Melissa Doubleday put it after she found the strange object on Saturday: "What the hell is that?"
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What is this beached sea monster?
An alien, a creature from the deep, or a beach Christmas tree? These are just a few guesses as to the mysterious object that washed up in New Zealand.
Confusion and intrigue has since surrounded the mysterious deep sea dweller after Ms Doubleday posted a photo of what she had stumbled upon to the Muriwai and Waimauku Community Group Facebook page, asking for help identifying the alien object.
The photo sparked debate on the page, with some suggesting it could be an "alien pod time capsule" or "sea monster's dreadlocks".
Other suggestions varied from a Maori canoe, to a monster from the 1980s television series Under the Mountain.
"Wow what a find! No idea what it is. Curious," one user commented.
However, it is believed the mystery object is a piece of driftwood covered in what is known as gooseneck barnacles.
Gooseneck barnacles are filter-feeding crustaceans that live attached to hard surfaces of rock or driftwood.
"I actually thought it was a washed up whale as I approached it, so weird," said Ms Doubleday.
"It looks like worms with shells I've never seen before with these funny creatures that just [coming] out."
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