Paula Regan and her husband Dave were strolling along a beach in Kent, UK when she spotted something very strange on the sand.
"At first, I thought it was a bit of driftwood or maybe a dead seal because I could see these funny tail fin things," she said.
It appeared to be a rather ugly mermaid with a humanoid head and a fish tail.
"The head looked skeletal, but the back part – where the fishtail was – was soft and squidgy," Reagan said. "It didn't feel slimy or decomposed, but it was definitely strange."
"Some thought it might have fallen off a boat, while others suggested it could be a figurehead from a ship – like one of those carved mermaids."
Of course, it looks most like the infamous Feejee Mermaid, a classic sideshow gaff (fake). The great huckster PT Barnum was the first to exhibit a Feejee Mermaid in 1842. Barnum's mermaid was apparently an unholy taxidermy combination of a juvenile monkey's head and torso and a fish tail.
In this case though, the strange creature's origin remains a mystery.
"Thanet District Council says it has made teams aware but declined to comment," reports Kent Online.
Previously:
• This freaky mermaid-monkey residing in a Japanese temple may not be what it seems, scientists report
• Terrifying video of mermaid attacked by fish in public aquarium
• Another Delightfully Demented Gift: The Feejee Mermaid
