'Alien' sea creature washes ashore in Australia. It turns out to be gourmet delicacy priced at Rs 21,000/kg

Goose barnacles, a crustacean species, clings to floating debris or marine infrastructure in clusters. (Image: @jasmine.yow/Facebook)

An unusual “alien-like” creature washed ashore at Horseshoe Bay in Port Elliott, South Australia, leaving viewers shocked and curious. The bizarre discovery was made by Vicki Evans, a local beachcomber, who shared photos of the creature on a community Facebook page, prompting a flood of comments and reactions online. “I’ve never seen anything quite like this before!” Evans wrote in her post. “Nature never ceases to amaze!”

The oceanic oddity, which initially looked otherworldly, featured a mass of gelatinous, spaghetti-like tentacles, each tipped with small shell-like structures that evoked images of maritime hair braids.

Experts quickly identified the so-called alien as a colony of goose barnacles, a crustacean species that clings to floating debris or marine infrastructure in clusters. University of South Australia marine ecologist Dr. Zoe Doubleday was intrigued by the size and density of the barnacle colony.

“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 told local media.

Doubleday speculated that the cluster may have “broke off the mothership” and floated to shore.

Though they bear a resemblance to oysters and clams, goose barnacles are actually closer relatives to lobsters and crabs. Within each shell, the crustacean houses small, jointed legs that it uses to sift plankton and other nutrients from the water. Surprisingly, these peculiar crustaceans, known as “percebes” in Spanish and Portuguese, are considered a culinary delicacy in parts of Europe and North America.

In New York City’s East Village, for instance, Foxface Natural, a restaurant known for wild game, features goose barnacles on its menu, served with melted butter. The price tag for this luxury seafood? Goose barnacles can cost up to $125 a pound, cementing their status as some of the most expensive seafood worldwide.

The high price of the barnacle stems from its rarity and difficulty in harvesting, which involves treacherous cliff-side retrievals in rough waters. In fact, beachcombers in Wales once stumbled upon a large cluster valued at around $65,000.

The peculiar name “goose barnacle” has historical roots dating back to the Middle Ages. Early naturalists believed that these barnacles were actually eggs laid by barnacle geese, as the birds’ migratory patterns seemed to align with the barnacles’ mysterious appearance on European shores. In this myth, goslings were thought to hatch directly from the barnacles and rise from the sea.