Log Covered in Rare Barnacles Fascinates and Disgusts New Zealand Beachgoers

Beachgoers in Papamoa, New Zealand, were simultaneously fascinated and disgusted after coming across a huge log covered in seaweed and gooseneck barnacles. Kyley Bernard told Storyful that she and her partner were walking along the beach a couple of days after a storm had hit the area when they came across the strange scene. "We were totally bewildered, as we hadn't seen anything like it before," she said. Her video shows the large piece of wood covered in what she said looked like "worms or tentacles with shells on the end." In the video, Bernard can be seen gently poking a mollusk, and exclaiming "Yuck!" after watching the living organism shrink back into its shell at her contact. "There were lots of different opinions on what it may have been," she said. "The consensus was that they were https://australian.museum/learn/animals/crustaceans/goose-barnacle/ gooseneck barnacles. " The weird-looking creatures are considered a seafood delicacy and reportedly sell for about https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/travel-i-found-an-alienlike-goldmine-washed-up-on-the-beach-and-its-worth-7100-everyone-is-rushing-out-to-find-one/news-story/60bfc6f11ba54097545877dc58411a60 $125 per pound. (Footage by Kyley Bernard/Storyful via Getty Images UGC)