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Man horrified after discovering 'vampire' creature washed up on UK beach

Home> News> UK News

Published 20:11 29 Mar 2024 GMT

Man horrified after discovering 'vampire' creature washed up on UK beach

The nightmarish creature looks like something straight out of a movie

Ben Thompson

Ben Thompson

It seems you don't need go to the cinema with a ticket for Dune 2 if you want to catch a glimpse of a sandworm.

As it turns out that the monstrous creatures are showing up on the beaches of Britain now.

Will Miles, 26, found a bizarre looking beast while walking along the beach near Exmouth Marina in Devon.

He explained: "It was very noticeable, lying in the centre part of the beach near the tideline - I was on a walk after work.

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"It was like a hugely oversized leech with a sucker full of sharp, inward-pointing teeth."

So, what is the creature?

The 'vampire' creature.
Pen News

It's is a sea lamprey - a species known for sucking the blood of their prey; hence why it's landed itself with the 'vampire fish' nickname.

Once widespread in the UK, they’re now rare, with their decline blamed on low water quality and man-made barriers in the rivers where they breed.

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Will, a warehouse worker from Bovey Tracey, estimated the one he came across was about 80cm long - just short of the height of an average two-year-old.

"I was very surprised," the 26-year-old said.

"I’d never seen one washed up before and expected I never would."

Keen to share his strange discovery, Will posted a photo on a Facebook page for naturalists.

And though some correctly identified the elusive species, many likened the creature to something straight out of the blockbuster Dune films, based on Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novels.

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“Looks like the sandworm from Dune,” wrote one person.

Many likened the creature to something straight out of Dune.
Warner Bros. Pictures

“So that's where Frank Herbert got his sandworms from,” added another.

“Only just seen the film and that’s where my head went straight away,” replied a third.

Someone else, referring to the fictional world where the series is set, asked: "Is this on Arrakis?"

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While others called the creature 'Shai-Hulud' - using the name given to the sandworms by the indigenous people of Arrakis, the Fremen.

For others, the creature was more horror than sci-fi.

One comment read: "When I say I love the ocean, I really mean I love the surface. What goes on underneath is terrifying, and none of my business."

It was enough to make people not want to go back in the water.

"I'm never swimming in the sea again," said another.

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It was also described as a 'fish of nightmares' and a 'terrifying looking creature'.

As gross as that thing looks, it would admittedly be a great way to advertise the Dune franchise.

Just get Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet to do a photoshoot with it, and you're golden.

Featured Image Credit: PEN News

Topics: UK News, Weird, Animals

Ben Thompson
Ben Thompson

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