Prized barnacles discovered

After causing confusion last week in New Zealand, the now famous gooseneck barnacles appear to have found their way to Bremer Bay aboard an unknown vessel.

Bremer Bay local Peter Schrimpf made his discovery back in November, only realising what he had come across once he saw the “Muriwai Monster”, a piece of driftwood covered in gooseneck barnacles that was found on a beach near Auckland and quickly became an internet sensation as people across the globe speculated about what it was.

Mr Schrimpf said he came across the unknown object during his regular beach walk along Bremer Bay main beach. “My mum had come down to Bremer Bay for a visit, and we went for an early morning walk along the main beach,” he said

“At around my normal turnaround point I looked further along the beach and saw something that looked out of place as I hadn’t seen anything there on the previous day’s walk. We decided to keep walking and take a look.”

Mr Schrimpf said he was confused by what he found. “I didn’t know what is was, I hadn’t seen anything like it before,” he said. “All the barnacles were alive and opening and closing, so I just took a few snaps and didn’t think much more of it until I saw the article about the gooseneck barnacles that washed up in New Zealand.”

Gooseneck barnacles are a type of shellfish considered a delicacy in Portugal and Spain and have “necks” that can grow up to 80cm long. They are typically found on objects such as driftwood and even sea turtles. Mr Schrimpf said he couldn’t move the object.

“Within a couple of days the ocean had reclaimed it,” he said.