The mystery of a "smelly" 15ft creature that washed up on Ainsdale beach has been solved.
Locals were perplexed by what animal the remains could belong to, after a walker found the carcass on the beach.
The man, who asked not be named, was confronted with the dead creature on Wednesday, July 29.
Photographs on the Ainsdale Community Group appear to show a large, muscular animal - bones are visible in the picture.
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The man told the ECHO: "It had four flippers which made it look most weird. And it was furry.
"It was approximately 15ft long and had bones sticking out everywhere, approximately four feet long some of them. Stunk too.
"It looked like it had an extra thing attached to it, maybe it was giving birth and died?"
Facebook users couldn't identify the animal either, with many believing it was either a cow, horse or even something paranormal.
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However, Natural England, who own and manage Ainsdale Sand Dunes National Nature Reserve, believe it knows what it is.
Stephen Ayliffe, Senior Advisor at Natural England told the ECHO: "We can confirm that an animal in a poorly decomposed state has washed up on Ainsdale beach and whilst the identification of the animal is unconfirmed it appears to be a species of whale.
“We are working with an animal removal company to have the animal’s remains removed from the beach as soon as possible.”
