When we were cleaning up the Breckon beach there was something that was washing up on the shoreline. Mrs Lawson only had walking boots on so Miss Nicholson, who had her rubber boots on, went to fetch it for us so that no one got their feet wet. This is what we found…

We didn’t know what this was but we knew it was something growing on a buoy. Miss Nicholson took a photo of it and asked her ‘fishing’ friends to see if anyone could help us identify what this was before throwing it back in the sea as it wasn’t rubbish but something living so it was only fair to return it. Do you know what this is?

It turns out it is goose barnacles! Another name for them is stalked barnacles or gooseneck barnacles but their scientific name is Pedunculata. They are a filter-feeding crustacean that live attached to hard surfaces of rocks or on flotsam that have become dislodged from the sea bed and washed up on shore. They are usually found in quite deep water and live up to about 3 years! Apparently they are the unquestionable secret gem of Spanish seafood!