Weird ‘alien like’ object washes up on Australian beach – so what exactly is it?

A mysterious phenomenon that washed ashore on an Adelaide beach caused a stir amongst locals, after a dog walker was left baffled by her discovery.

The bizarre natural phenomenon washed up on Horseshoe Bay in Port Elliot, south of Adelaide on Monday morning.

Confused residents took to social media groups to discuss the three-metre long mass of translucent stalks,  likening it to ‘vermicelli’ with ‘shells’ on the end of each strand.

‘Over 26 years walking Horseshoe Bay – I’ve never seen anything quite like this before,’ a local woman wrote as she shared images of the barnacles online

‘Nature never ceases to amaze!’

‘That might just be the freakiest thing I’ve ever seen,’ another local said. 

Another local visited the strange sight and said the shells on the end appeared to have ‘brown creatures moving in and out of them’.

Eagle-eyed locals revealed the strange mass was a cluster of goose barnacles.

A woman shared the images with a locals’ group and people had no clue what it was

A marine ecologist said goose barnacles are a specific type of barnacle and differ from those typically associated with boats and whales

University of South Australia marine ecologist Dr Zoe Doubleday said there are two types of barnacles, the ‘acorn’ varieties like those which grow on ship hulls and rocks, and goose barnacles like those washed-up on Horseshoe Bay. 

‘They’re strange because barnacles are actually crustaceans but they’re a completely different group of animals – more closely related to a prawn than a cockle,’ Dr Doubleday told the Advertiser. 

Goose barnacles even have jointed ‘legs’ which they use to catch small particles of food.

Dr Doubleday said she was in awe of the discovery. 

‘I’ve never seen anything like it and it just must be an old pylon from a jetty or some piece of marine infrastructure that has been in the water for such a long time to grow a dense cluster of barnacles,’ she said. 

The strange sea-creatures are considered a delicacy and many locals suggested Port Elliot residents eat them

Some locals suggested those on the beach should try eating the barnacles, with one adding: ‘apparently they taste similar to razor fish’.

‘Grab them, paella heaven. So rare. You will never get cockles like that! Must have been floating rope,’ another said.

The barnacles are considered a delicacy in many parts of the world and a plate of the sea creatures can fetch hundreds of dollars.

The Australian Museum described the barnacles as having ‘long, rubbery stalks’, and wrote its common to find them floating in large groups on marine objects and flotsam, or on wharves and piers.