A man was left stunned after discovering an unidentified creature washed up on a Merseyside beach.
The decomposing animal was found by the Lifeboat Road car park in Formby, by Dominic Murphy, while he was walking along the beach with his cousin yesterday evening.
The creature had semi-decomposed and is thought to be around two foot long.
Dominic, 26, is from Crosby and was not able to identify the species of sea bird, at first thinking it was a penguin.
He told the Liverpool Echo: "I don't know what it is, we saw it on the beach and I took a couple of photos of it. We were arguing amongst ourselves over what we thought it was.
"Initially I thought "is that a penguin?", but obviously it's not. It's shaped like one but we are in Liverpool not the Antarctic. My cousin said it was a pigeon but it is definitely not a pigeon I haven't got a clue what it is."
After he shared a photograph of the creature with friends on WhatsApp, speculation mounted as to what the bird could be, and where it may have come from.
But no one was able to provide any answers.
Dominic said: "If you look at it it's got feathers and a beak, so it is not a penguin. My cousin was laughing at me when I said it because he was wondering how something like that could end up in Formby."
A spokesperson from Green Sefton said: "The bird is called a Guillemot, a member of the auk family. It is not a penguin.
"Guillemots breed on cliffs around North Wales and Anglesey and often feed in Liverpool Bay and in the inshore waters along the Sefton coast. Fatalities through disease, injury or hunger often wash up along our beaches."
