'Alien' creatures spotted on Australian beach
The alien-like creatures were described as both "beautiful" and "freaky".
A woman walking on a beach in Australia encountered a peculiar sight- alien-like sea creatures washed ashore.
"Over 26 years walking Horseshoe Bay - I’ve never seen anything quite like this before! Nature never ceases to amaze!” Vicky Evans remarked on Facebook. She shared several pictures of the creatures.
Their grey and white shells resemble flower-like cones. One person said it looked like they had "undone noodles" coming out of their shells.
"Wow. What on earth is that?" one woman asked. Others remarked that it was the "freakiest thing" they had ever seen.
"I saw those too. It's like a mermaid's hair," one Facebook user commented. Another user added: "Looks like something from the very very deep."
It turns out that the "alien" sea creatures are actually goose barnacles. The filter-feeding crustaceans are known to attach themselves to rocks, logs, and other ocean debris.
According to the National Ocean Service, the "sticky little crustaceans" are related to crabs, lobsters, and shrimps.
"How do barnacles stick to the undersides of vessels, to other sea life, to each other, and to pretty much anything they come in contact with? They secrete a fast-curing cement that is among the most powerful natural glues known — the glue is so strong that researchers are trying to figure out how it can be used commercially."
While many people have not seen them, there are over 1,400 barnacle species and they are quite common out at sea.
MORE FROM EAST COAST RADIO
Have you ever seen anything like this? An unusual sight has baffled Port Elliot beachgoers with a giant log of goose barnacles washing up at Horseshoe Bay. #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/CiRWjJl8uI
— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) October 29, 2024
Goose barnacles are filter-feeding crustaceans that live attached to hard surfaces of rocks and flotsam in the ocean intertidal zone. They feed through the water motion during tides, rather than the movement of their cirri
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) March 18, 2023
[📹 Lucy McRobert]pic.twitter.com/htwJNDwJLa
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