Images of mysterious object washed ashore bamboozle New Zealand locals

Photographs of the alien-like object washed ashore near Auckland have sparked an online debate - but scientists believe that have the answer as to what it is.

A mystery object has baffled onlookers at Muriwai Beach in New Zealand. Source: Facebook/Melissa Doubleday

A mysterious object which washed up on a beach near Auckland in New Zealand has baffled locals, who have nicknamed it the 'Muriwai monster'.  

Resident Melissa Doubleday found the giant item washed up on Muriwai Beach and posted photos of it on Facebook, asking if anyone knew what it was. 

It quickly attracted a lot of interest on the Muriwai & Waimauku Area Community Group page. 

Among the more than 100 suggestions from Facebook commenters were a Rastafarian whale, an alien time capsule, a sea monster with dreadlocks, a walrus, a Maori canoe and a beach Christmas tree.

The 'Muriwai monster', which washed up on a beach in New Zealand. Source: Facebook/Melissa Doubleday

"I actually thought it was a washed up whale as I approached it, so weird," Ms Doubleday told New Zealand news site Stuff.

The curious object has made news around the world, but it seems the 'Muriwai monster' is nothing sinister.  

The New Zealand Marine Sciences Society told Stuff they were "almost positive from looking at the images" that it was a piece of driftwood covered in gooseneck barnacles.

The barnacles are crustaceans which grow in clusters and cling to rocks, driftwood and shipwrecks.

A close up of the 'Muriwai monster', showing the gooseneck barnacles. Source: Facebook/Melissa Doubleday

Since posting her original question, Doubleday has been back to Muriwai Beach and reported back that "everything on it has died now, and it smells really bad".