Mystery sea monster washes up on Spanish coast

The corpse of an unidentified sea creature has washed ashore on the Spanish coast.

The four-metre carcass, which looks a bit like the remains of a dragon, was discovered in an advanced state of decomposition near Almeria in the Spanish region of Andalucia.

A woman reported the finding to local authorities upon discovering the bizarre creature washed up on the sands.

"It seems a kind of fish but the state of decomposition makes recognition difficult;" said marine biologist Francisco Toledano.

"We have no idea what it could be," Civil Protection coordinator Maria Sanchez told Spanish newspaper Levante. "A woman found a piece of it and we helped her get the rest."


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"It's hard to tell," University of Miami shark researcher David Shiffman told NBC. "but the official guess that it could be a thresher shark seems plausible."

The rotting corpse was buried for health reasons, so experts are relying on photos to identify the creature.