A mystery globster was found floating next to a beach in the Philippines.

The 20ft-long decomposing mass was first found by a group of tour guides heading to Boracay beach in Aklan province on September 15 afternoon.

It was reported to the local environmental office in the region but it washed away to a nearby village’s shore where it was found again the next day (September 16).

Due to the carcass size, the team had to use a backhoe to drag the creature from the shore into a nearby spot where it was buried. They later identified as a dead sperm whale.

An officer for the City Environment & Natural Resources Office (CENRO) said: ’Our team verified that the globster was a sperm whale but it would be hard to determine its cause of death.

‘The stage of decomposition was too advanced for an autopsy but we took some samples for research in our facility.’

Tour guide Edrick Maghari who saw the globster said: ‘We were on a boat for some island hopping when we spotted the strange thing floating in the water.

‘It smelled really bad and we don’t know what it was. We called the local officials and reported it.’

In the Philippines, sperm whales could be seen alone or in groups just floating below the surface of the waters. They are listed as vulnerable species by the nongovernment organisation International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for heavy hunting.