AN unidentified sea creature has washed ashore in Indonesia’s Maluku province.

The colossal carcass was found on Hulung Beach on the westside of Serum Island on Tuesday night by a local man.

In the darkness, Asrul Tuanakota, 37, initially mistook the huge fleshy blob for a stranded boat, according to the Jakarta Globe.

Fishermen in the island’s Iha village are convinced the remains are those of a giant squid while others who have viewed the footage say the stinking mass could also be a decomposing humpback whale.

The bloated 15 metre corpse is believed to have been dead for at least three days by the time it was found.

Close up vision shows its discoloured skin turning the waters a disconcerting red as it disintegrates.

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Locals have asked the government to help them remove the remains as the stench is getting worse by the day.

A group of marine scientists have reportedly taken samples of the creature in a bid to identify it.

In February, a mysterious hairy, white blob washed up in the Philippines, baffling locals.

The 4.5 metre long creature was found on a beach at Cagdianao in the Dinagat Islands.

Cagdianao Municipal Agriculture Office spokesperson Sufenia Chua told Filipino news service ABS-CBN News the creature was likely to be a sea cow.

There had been previous sightings of sea cows in the region, she said.

In 2015, fisherman Mark Watkins captured incredible footage of a bizarre creature floating off Western Australia.

He later described how the fleshy pink and white object bobbed along the surface of the ocean like an alien boat.

On closer inspection, however, Mr Watkins and his fellow crew came to the conclusion they had come across the gas-filled corpse of a whale.