A woman has been left stunned by a beautiful sea slug which was discovered in a rock pool near a popular beach location in Australia.
Linda Gee was enjoying her time at Dee Why Rock Pool in New South Wales, which is adjacent to Dee Why Beach, when she found the fluorescent sea creature in the rock pool - an outdoor swimming pool which has been carved out of the rocks of the ocean's edge.
She was in the outdoor pool on Boxing Day when she took a photograph of the unusual animal.
The sea slug, which is known as a Bennett's nudibranch, had a bright blue body with purple spots, purple rhinopores and fins and orange glow around the edge of its body.
Linda shared the photo on to a local Facebook page called The Living Collective, which wrote: "Who knew slugs could be this beautiful!?
"Linda Gee snapped this stunning sea slug hanging out at Dee Why Rock Pool. Isn’t our sea life incredible!"
According to Daily Mail, hundreds came to Linda's aid when she asked what the sea creature was, while others were astonished by its beauty.
One woman commented: "Flamboyant, what a wonderful word and he is indeed," while another said: "I saw some there a few years ago, beautiful aren't they, I hope people leave them alone."
The nudibranch is usually found in southeastern Australia between Queensland and Victoria and have been observed feeding on sponge in much deeper water than on this instance in the rock pool.
The brightly coloured spots are a deterrent for other fish not to eat the sea slugs due to be an "off taste", according to Underwater Sydney.
Most sea slugs in the nudibranch family are harmless to people except Glaucus Atlanticus, known as the blue angel, which can sting because they steal the sting from other sea creatures such as the Portuguese Man-O-War. Bennett's nudibranch can reach a total of 50mm in length.
