An alien-like object has been discovered on a New Zealand beach by a beachgoer, sparking debate about its origin and name.

Image of strange creature on the beach. Photo: Getty

Adam Dickinson, 31 years old, born in Liverpool, England, discovered a strange creature on Pakiri beach in New Zealand. In the photo, the creature appears with several purple spots arranged in a circle, surrounded by a white, jelly-like ring shaped like the Sun.

Mr. Dickinson, his wife and two children visited the beach together. “We went out and found about 100 jellyfish along that area,” he said. Finally, after about an hour, we met ‘this’. It looks like an alien creature. At first we were very impressed, because it was a wonderful thing.”

The lion’s mane jellyfish is the largest jellyfish in the world. Photo: Getty

Later, New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research identified this strange creature as the lion’s mane jellyfish – the most famous jellyfish in the world. When underwater, this jellyfish’s tentacles can be 30 meters or more long – longer than a blue whale.

Lion’s mane jellyfish use tentacles to inject poison into their prey and cause pain but not death. The distribution range of this jellyfish is cold waters such as the Arctic, the North Atlantic, and the North Pacific.