crocodile and dolphin like creature washed ashore on the banks of an Australian lake

A bizarre deep sea creature which looks like a cross between a crocodile and a dolphin has washed ashore on the banks of an Australian lake.

Father Ethan Tipper snapped an image of the creature washed up off Lake Macquarie in NSW, before posting it online to see if anyone could identify it.

The image has divided social media with some claiming it is a large hairtail and others suggesting the snap has either been photoshopped or captured outside of Lake Macquarie.

But Australian Museum fish collector Mark McGrouther told Daily Mail Australia he suspects it is a pike eel, native to deep waters on the east coast of Australia.

‘This is the first time I have ever seen one of them in the flesh,’ he said.

‘I suspect it was caught and discarded by fisherman who got more than they bargained for when they tried to reel it in.’

The pike eel is known to thrash around violently once hooked, damaging fishing equipment and forcing fishermen to cut their lines.

Source : Online