VIDEO Unusual barnacles washed up by storm
STORMS have washed hundreds of unusual barnacles onto Guernsey's west coast.
The pale-blue sea creatures were initially identified as common goose barnacles, which are found floating on the western English Channel and around Ireland on debris and seaweed.
But further investigation has revealed they are more likely to be buoy barnacles.
They usually live at sea, but recent bad weather has seen many appearing on beaches, including around Grande Rocques, wrapped in seaweed.
Guernsey Biological Records Centre manager Jane Gilmour, who has looked for herself, said she believed the crustaceans to be buoy barnacles.
'We've not come across them before, I don't think,' she said. 'It is intriguing.'
Buoy barnacles are usually found in the warmer waters of the Atlantic or the Pacific, but south-westerly winds have brought them to the British Isles before.
