The remains of a mysterious creature have been discovered on a beach in the Wolf Island National Wildlife Refuge in American state of Georgia.

Debate has been raging online and in the biological world over whether or not the rotting carcass, which resembles a small plesiosaurus, is a hoax.

Chantal Audra from the Tybee Island Marine Science Centre hypothesized that, if real, the decomposing body may belong to a type of deep sea shark, distorted to it’s dinosaur-like appearance by the decomposition process.