Katalina Delaney, 43, was walking her client’s dog along Worthing beach on Sunday, November 2, when she came across something unexpected.
She described seeing a “huge eel” washed up on the sand.
“I had never seen anything like it before,” she said.
Sussex Wildlife Trust confirmed it was a conger eel – “a long, scaleless fish, usually grey-blue in colour with a pale golden belly”.
The eels, which can grow up to 2.75 metres in length, are nocturnal and “quite elusive” meaning they are “often not seen”.
They are more common in the west of the UK, however there are a “large number” of them living under Brighton’s West Pier.
A conger eel on Worthing beach (Image: Katalina Delaney)
A spokesman for the trust said: “The dorsal, tail and anal fins are fused together, creating a complete fringe around the body.
“During the day, they hide in holes or crevices on rocky or sandy bottoms, coming out of their hiding places at night to hunt.”