Thousands of tentacled creatures in shells attached to a large piece of driftwood were fascinating locals who discovered they were Goosenecked Barnacles, a rare specimen considered a delicacy

Remarkable pictures and videos show a rare sighting of thousands of bizarre and valuable sea creatures washed up on a beach.

Martyn Green and his family, from New Brighton, were on a weekend away near Caernarfon in North Wales when they came across what appeared to be a large piece of driftwood.

Attached to the log were thousands of tentacled creatures in shells, which Martyn says is unlike anything he has seen before.

He said: “My wife Gemma, she found it. We were walking on the beach and she called us and said ‘come back, look at this’.

“We went and had a look and it looked like something not of this world.

“It was quite and attraction for the locals.”

Martyn, 47, said his son Daniel searched on Google for answers and they soon realised the astonishing creatures were Goosenecked Barnacles, a rare specimen considered a delicacy, particularly in Portugal and Spain where they are known as percebes.

He said: “It turns out they are one of the most expensive sea creatures you can buy.

“From looking on Google I think it’s about £25 each they go for, and on the log there were probably about 2,000 of them.”

Martyn, who runs a marketing agency, said he did not want to reveal the exact location of the otherworldly sight to avoid opportunists flocking to the scene and destroying it.

Martyn’s fears are not unfounded, as there have been reports of fishermen in Galicia, northeastern Spain, risking death to harvest the creatures and illegal and violent groups muscling in.

At prices reaching 360 euros a kilo in peak times, the barnacles are a lucrative find, despite their hideous appearance.

Source:- Mirror uk

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