Alien-Like Sea Creature, Resembling Volcano Shape, Washes Ashore

A bizarre, alien-like sea creature washed up on a Northern Auckland beach and was spotted by a New Zealand family Monday. Photos of the pink-colour blob-like creature surfaced online.

The creature, which resembled a volcano shape, was later identified as a species of a huge jellyfish. The creature has a white segmented outer body, with a bright red inside.

"[Jellyfish] were everywhere and we were pretty amazed. Then we saw this massive one that seemed different from all of the others," Eve Dickinson explained to Auckland Now. "We spent ages looking at it because of its beautiful colours and shape. My boy said it reminded him of a volcano."

The creature was identified as a lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata), also known as the giant jellyfish or hair jelly. There's a number of thin strands making up the jelly's tentacles. When underwater, the tentacles can trail 100 feet or more — longer than a blue whale.

"It almost looked like a load of muscles contracting," Eve's husband Adam told Yahoo7.

According to reports, the lion's mane was actually the largest known species of jellyfish. They are normally around 20 inches wide. The largest ever discovered was believed to have washed up on Massachusetts Bay in 1870, with a massive 7.5-foot diameter.

"They're usually around during the spring and summer because the plankton starts to bloom, so as a result they come around too," Marine biology technician Diana Macpherson, from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand, reportedly said.

Numerous creatures have drawn curious onlookers in the past as people try to determine their origin.

A mysterious giant "hairy" sea creature washed up on the eastern coast of Russia last month. Videos and photos of the monstrous "smelly" carcass surfaced online. The creature, which looked like an ugly chalk-colored beast, was found on the Pacific coastline of the Kamchatka peninsula close to the remote village of Pakhachi on the shore of the Bering Sea.

In March, a mysterious “crocodile-like” creature found washed up on a beach in Australia. The creature had a long head, giant jawline and slender tail.