A mystery beast has washed ashore from the deep, with skin like a shark, a reptilian snout and a tail with what appears to be teeth growing from it.

Nathan Eyre and April Hollihan were walking on Island View Beach, near Victoria, when they discovered the strange looking creature.

“Its snout was shaped like a crocodile, it was about five feet long or more and it had a long slimy tail with hooks on,” said Eyre, noting that it was too decomposed for him to easily identify.

The find was up the coast from Cadboro Bay on Vancouver Island, where the BC Scientific Cryptozoology Club have maintained cameras for years, waiting patiently in the hope of capturing on film the elusive Cadborosaurus, which they believe exists.

Brian Timmer, a student at the University of Victoria’s prestigious Juanes Laboratory, thinks he might have identified the creature. He believes the fish is a longnose skate (Raja rhina) or possibly a big skate (Raja binoculata), but based on the nose shape, he thinks it is most likely the former.

Timmer said sometimes fishermen use cookie cutters to cut up the wings to make pseudo-scallops and they are apparently quite tasty. He noted this as the wings of the creature found on Island View Beach are almost completely missing. Timmer said this could explain what happened to the creature, with someone disposing of it in shallow water.

A close-up shot of the creature’s head. (Photo by April Hollihan)