Coffin Ray, Balmain: Stingray with human-like lips washes ashore, shocks Inner Westies

A dead, alien-like stingray washed ashore on the banks of the Parramatta River, prompting the dog walker who found it to think “WTF is that”. See the pictures.

The alien-like coffin ray that washed ashore dead on the banks of Balmain's foreshore. Picture: Karen Taylor

A dead, alien-like stingray with human lips washed ashore along the banks of a Sydney river prompting a dog walker who discovered the creature to think “WTF is that”, with the pictures sparking an online debate erupted as to what it actually was.

Karen Taylor, owner of Inner West Dog Walking, was following her usual route around the Balmain foreshore when she spotted something peculiar on the banks of the Parramatta River and Sydney Harbour at Birchgrove Oval.

“This thing had washed up on the sand and I looked at it and thought: ‘WTF is that’,” Ms Taylor said.

“Another man was also at the foreshore and he thought it was a log, so we turned it over and it had gills and stuff on the other side.”

Ms Taylor, without knowing then it was dead, tried to push it back into the water and stop her dogs sniffing it, but it floated back to the sand some minutes later.

The alien-like ray stumped Ms Taylor and other Inner Westies. Picture: Karen Taylor

“I posted the picture of it on Facebook and people were saying all sorts of different things as to what it could be,” she said. “Some said to be careful because they thought it was an electric ray and it could maybe shock me and the dogs.”

The Inner West Courier can now confirm it was a coffin ray, known for packing a pretty solid shock.

The coffin ray is common in NSW. Picture: Karen Taylor

Another foreshore-goer thought it was a log. Picture: Karen Taylor

“It’s most likely what’s commonly known as a ‘coffin’ or ‘numb’ ray, a hypnos monopterygius,” Dr Leonardo Guida, shark scientist and conservation lead at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said.

“They’re quite common in the shallows of NSW, and readily encountered by snorkellers and divers”

Dr Guida said they’re not aggressive but, when they’re alive and provoked, can give an “electric punch”.

“Like any wild animal, admire them from a safe distance, do not provoke them and take in just how special of an encounter it is,” he said.

Ms Taylor found the carcass while walking along the Birchgrove foreshore, pictured from above here.

Another coffin ray washed ashore on Bondi Beach earlier this year, also confounding residents.

Ms Taylor said dead species washing ashore at Birchgrove Oval had been a common occurrence on her walks.

“Over the last month, I’ve seen fish, birds, and even a kookaburra, wash ashore dead,” she said. “There was once even a massive possum, bigger than my leg.

“There’s been a lot of things washed up lately and the ray thing looks like a bottom feeder, so whatever is killing these animals must also be at the bottom, too.”

Previously, following a the discovery of a high number of dead fishes in the Parramatta River earlier this year, the Parramatta River Catchment Group explained how an influx of natural debris and leaves can reduce the oxygen in the river to harmful levels.

“People might think that leaves being blown into the water is a natural thing and that it’s okay for them to fall into the water, but as it breaks down it uses up oxygen as then it kills the fish around them because there’s no oxygen for them,” group’s co-ordinator Nell Graham said.

There is no indication of how the coffin ray died.