On Wednesday 29 July, a mysterious sea creature was found washed up on a Merseyside beach in Liverpool, UK.
Almost instantly, photographs of the animal were uploaded on Facebook, revealing a decomposing, unidentifiable creature spanning 15 feet in length. Those who saw the creature on the beach were left confused and mystified as they tried to identify what the strange animal could be. Subsequently, the washed up body was labelled as the “Ainsdale Anomaly“.
The creature’s physical features further fueled the mystery behind it as it has been described as being headless, furry and having flippers.
Since its appearance on the beach in Merseyside, people have been trying to guess what the “Ainsdale Anomaly” could be; it has since been likened to a woolly mammoth, walrus, and several other beings. In addition, a local man commented on the sea creature, claiming that “it seems to have another creature attached, possibly via an umbilical cord, so it could have been giving birth“. Others suggest that it resembles a mixture of several different animals and that it could even be an extraterrestrial being.
While there are multiple, various speculations as to what the “Ainsdale Anomaly” could be, Natural England has stepped forward and given a statement regrading the washed up body. The senior advisor of Natural England, Stephen Ayliffe has commented on the species of the creature as he stated: “We can confirm that an animal in a poorly decomposed state has washed up on Ainsdale beach and whilst the identification of the animal is unconfirmed it appears to be a species of whale“. The decomposition of the sea creature has certainly caused a lot of upset, with locals complaining about the pungent smell of the decaying body. Ayliffe further explained that Natural England, the organisation which owns and runs the Ainsdale Sand Dunes National Nature Reserve, is currently working on having the decomposing body removed from the beach.
