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Lifeguards at the Manzanilla Beach Resort are still trying to identify four bat-like animals which were seen swimming near the shore on Wednesday afternoon.

The creatures were kept in a container of water by the lifeguards as they attempted to determine its origin. But they have since died.

One of the animals, which the lifeguards believe was the mother, was about eight inches wide. The others were about four inches.

Workers said they have contacted the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources to inform them about the "unusual" discovery, but were yet to receive a response.

One lifeguard, Lennox Baptiste, said the creatures were "surviving well" up until Wednesday night.

"They were swimming peacefully in the water. It was a beautiful sight," Baptiste said.

He could not say if the critters were poisonous.

Baptiste said in his eight years in the profession, "I have never seen anything like these animals."

During the Guardian’s visit to the resort yesterday, lifeguards and maintenance personnel gathered to take a look at the species.

Predominantly black, with what appeared to be tiny horns on its head, the slimy animals also had small tails and ears.

A purplish secretion also oozed from them.

The lifeguards speculated the animals may have wandered away from familiar territory and became lost.