STUNNED beachgoers in New Zealand stumbled over what looks like the carcass of a mysterious marine animal.

The bizarre-looking corpse washed ashore last week, fuelling speculation that it is the remains of a prehistoric sea monster washed up ashore from the deep, Sun Live reports. The 9-metre-long corpse has basic flippers and a gaping jaw with long, sharp teeth.

A video posted to YouTube showed the 9-metre long corpse on Pukehina Beach in the Bay of Plenty. Calling it a “strange marine creature”, the narrator added: “can anyone help us identify it?”.

The video sparked a flurry of speculation that the carcass was some prehistoric ‘sea monster’.

Discovery News said the latest “monster” carcass find in New Zealand was part of a long history of discoveries of mysterious sea creatures. The bizarre, rotting corpses are often mistakenly identified as sea monsters or dinosaurs, or even just mysterious “blobsters”.

In 1896, a 2-metre tall sea creature corpse washed ashore in St Augustine, Florida. Scientists eventually determined it was a new type of giant octopus.

In 2003, the bizarre 12-metre, 13-tonne “Chilean blob” shocked the world when it washed ashore on Los Muermos beach, BBC News reports. Puzzled marine biologists speculated the blob could be a type of giant squid, but DNA tests on the blubbery mass eventually determined it was the remains of a sperm whale.

Marine mammal expert Anton Van Heldon examined the latest ‘monster’ carcass in New Zealand and believes it is a killer whale, based on the fin structure. Killer whales, or orcas, are sometimes spotted in the Bay of Plenty.