A RARE sea creature has been found by a little boy on a popular UK beach.
The adventurous five-year-old stumbled up the “alien-like” animal while investigating some rock pools on Mount Batten Beach, in Plymouth, Devon.
Charley Taviner was trying to catch a crab when he saw what he thought was a clump of seaweed.
But upon closer inspection, the youngster was baffled by his discovery.
It turned out Charlie had found a super rare find for UK waters.
Aplysia depilans – or the ‘Mediterranean sea hare’ – are usually only seen in the Med and East Atlantic.
Experts from the Marine Biological Association explained how a combination of warmer waters, and frequent stormy weather could have swept the creature to UK shores.
Charley was out with The Rock Pool Project’s monthly ‘BioBlitz Battle’, organised by the Marine Biological Association when he found the sea hare.
His dad Chris Taviner, said: “For what I initially thought was seaweed, this has taken a surprising turn!
“If it wasn’t for my son Charley chasing after a large crab, we wouldn’t have found it.”
But, dog walkers have been warned to keep an eye out and avoid the animals as they do release toxins.
A spokesperson for the MBA said: “It is possible that warming waters and increased storms have allowed this species to make itself more at home on our shores.”
The Aplysia depilans are actually a type of mollusc and can grow to be 40cm long.
They can even weigh up to 380g and are quite a bit larger than the more common Spotted sea hare.
The MBA add that the species swim by flapping their two large “wing-like flaps of tissue” called parapodia, which make them surprisingly agile.
The Big Rock Pool Challenge has identified and recorded over 255 various species at Mount Batten since its launch in October 2024.
Loretta Kwok, South West Lead of the challenge, said: “These findings highlight just how rich and dynamic our coastal ecosystems are, and how much there is still to discover right on our doorstep.”
“It’s still too early to draw conclusions from this single discovery, but one thing is certain – that our local rock pools and coastal habitats are incredibly diverse.”
This comes after an eerie looking shape washed up on a beach in Sussex leaving locals “shocked” at the sight of it.
Havva Mustafa and his partner Yvonne, were out for a stroll when he spotted the mystery shape and went over for a closer inspection.
The local concluded it must be a sheep carcass, and started to create “all sorts of theories about how a sheep might end up drowned in the sea.”
They reached out to the Sussex Wildlife Trust to help find some answers.
But a spokesperson for the Trust said it was “really difficult” to identify the animal and it seemed to have been in the water “for a while.”
The spokesperson concluded that it was, “likely to be a sheep”.
Odd objects washing up on UK beaches was not such an unusual occurence.
In September last year, a 70ft carcass washed up on the beach in Pembrey, Wales.
Visitors and locals were shocked to discover the rare sight of the large corpse beached on the sand.
Researchers confirmed the sea giant was a “very large” fin whale, which comes second in size to the blue whale.
