A giant alien-like object covered in barnacles that washed up on a New Zealand beach has sparked debate online and left locals baffled.
Melissa Doubleday was driving past Muriwai Beach near Auckland when she encountered the strange scene about five kilometres down the shore.
‘Just curious to know if anyone knows what this is?’ she asked a community Facebook group. ‘I drove past and was like what the?’
Stunning photographs capture the mysterious object, dubbed the ‘Muriwai Monster’, in all its glory – with rows of pearly-white barnacles clinging on to thick strings of algae.
Social media users suggested the object could be a Maori canoe, a monster from the 1980s television series Under the Mountain, a shipwreck, artwork, a Caribbean walrus, a Rastafarian whale or an alien time capsule.
But experts quickly chimed in to claim that the shaggy object was in fact a large piece of driftwood covered in gooseneck barnacles.
Gooseneck barnacles – sometimes referred to as stalked barnacles or simply goose barnacles – are crustaceans that grow in clusters and cling to rocks in areas where waves frequently crash and tides regularly change.
Despite their scary appearance, the sea creatures are not dangerous to humans.
Goose barnacles are also known to cling to shipwrecks. In countries such as Spain and Portugal, goose barnacles are called percebes and are considered a delicacy to eat.
In parts of Europe, percebes can cost upwards of $500 per kilogram, namely because they are so difficult to gather.
‘I actually thought it was a washed up whale as I approached it, so weird,’ Ms Doubleday said.
Source: Daily Mail