Taking to Facebook for answers, a surprised Paul Matthews asked islanders what the sea monster could possibly be. Some suggested that it was an “urchin” or a “hermit crab”, while others simple responded: “something out of a horror film” and “stuff of nightmares!”
But it turns out the answer is more unusual than scary – the creatures are rare goose barnacles, and they’re a Mediterranean delicacy dish worth hundreds per pound.
Video: Islanders gasped as they spotted the bizarre crustacean extending its tendrils in an apparent search for food earlier this week. (Paul Matthews)
They’re one of the ocean’s oldest habitants, having populated the deep seas for 500 million years. They cannot move, and rely on using their mouthparts to collect plankton whipped up by the waves.
For that reason, the crustaceans are not a common site in Jersey, as Jersey Biodiversity Centre’s Sarah Maguire explained:
“[Goose barnacles] are unusual to spot just because they don’t normally live in the intertidal zone (the zone that gets exposed to the elements between high and low tide) and we only get a glimpse of them when they get washed up. They are often seen after a storm or if there’s been very rough seas where they can become dislodged from the deep and wash up on our shores. Last year I found loads after a storm near La Rocque Harbour.”
Pictured: Very few sightings of the unusual goose barnacles have been recorded in Jersey.
That rarity has transformed the sea dweller into a gourmet treat, especially popular in Galicia, Spain, where it’s known as Percebes. It’s normally salted, cooked and served with a lemon wedge, but the simply-cooked supper will cost a pretty penny – thousands, in fact.
A pound of the deep ocean grub can cost up to $80 per pound, with some Galicians risking their lives to retrieve goose barnacles from jagged coastal cliffs.
But islanders weren’t convinced by their food credentials, and the barnacles were left in place. “No way would one of them go in my mouth… Yuck,” one Facebooker commented.
Pictured: Seafood aficionados pay handsomely for goose barnacles in Spain, where they are a delicacy known as Percebes.
The Biodiversity Centre are now asking anyone who has spotted the goose barnacles around Jersey coastlines to submit their sightings via their website.