homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Strange 'Muriwai Monster' is a crustacean colony, New Zealand marine scientists say

Beaches -- the final frontier. For these guys at least.

Alexandru Micu
December 13, 2016 @ 3:22 pm

share Share

Muriway Beach, New Zealand locals have reported the strange sighting of a twitching, living mass that reminds me of Cthulhu’s beard. The so-called Muriwai Monster has people flocking to see how nature can still surprise us on a planet we like to think of as ours.

Muriwai Monster

Hello miss, do you have a moment to talk about out lord and savior Neptune, god of the deep?
Image credits Melissa Doubleday / Facebook.

The oceans around New Zealand are full of surprises lately, with blocks of seabed being pushed up by an earthquake last month on Kaikura beach and a strange sighting yesterday on Muriwai Beach — but this time, the story behind it is way less violent. On first sight, you could mistake it for a whale carcass. That’s actually what Melissa Doubleday thought when she first discovered the mass while driving by the beach.

Image credits Melissa Doubleday / Facebook.

Image credits Melissa Doubleday / Facebook.

The whole object, however, is covered in black tendrils which move and twitch in the Sun. Curious about what she found, Melissa snapped a few pictures and posted them to Facebook.

“[I] drove past and [was] like what the?” she said in the original post.

“I actually thought it was a washed up whale as I approached it, so weird,” she later told Stuff. “It looks like worms with shells I’ve never seen before with these funny creatures that just [come] out.”

Local Rani Timoti, who also visited the beach, told Stuff that the object definitely looked “alive”, like wiggling worms, and has a strong putrid smell when you’re downwind. Which, according to the New Zealand Marine Sciences Society, isn’t very surprising: the whole thing is basically one huge pile of seafood left out under the sun.

The object is likely a massive piece of driftwood colonized by Lepas anatifera, a species of gooseneck barnacles. These crustaceans live their whole life attached to submerged objects in huge numbers and feed by filtering the water around them through a series of feeding tentacles.

Anatifera‘s pedunculus (the muscular black tendrils) can grow up to 80 cm (31 inches) long. It’s the only sessile crustacean on Earth, meaning they’re related to shellfish but they live like an oyster — they produce a type of cement that binds them in place to a surface. If that surface ups and plants them on a beach in New Zealand where residents can pick and poke at them, they can’t do much about the situation.

Which just goes to show how dangerous a sedentary lifestyle can be.

share Share

A Brain Implant Just Turned a Woman’s Thoughts Into Speech in Near Real Time

This tech restores speech in real time for people who can’t talk, using only brain signals.

Using screens in bed increases insomnia risk by 59% — but social media isn’t the worst offender

Forget blue light, the real reason screens disrupt sleep may be simpler than experts thought.

Beetles Conquered Earth by Evolving a Tiny Chemical Factory

There are around 66,000 species of rove beetles and one researcher proposes it's because of one special gland.

We Should Start Worrying About Space Piracy. Here's Why This Could be A Big Deal

“We are arguing that it’s already started," say experts.

An Experimental Drug Just Slashed Genetic Heart Risk by 94%

One in 10 people carry this genetic heart risk. There's never been a treatment — until now.

We’re Getting Very Close to a Birth Control Pill for Men

Scientists may have just cracked the code for male birth control.

A New Antibiotic Was Hiding in Backyard Dirt and It Might Save Millions

A new antibiotic works when others fail.

Researchers Wake Up Algae That Went Dormant Before the First Pyramids

Scientists have revived 7,000-year-old algae from Baltic Sea sediments, pushing the limits of resurrection ecology.

A Fossil So Strange Scientists Think It’s From a Completely New Form of Life

This towering mystery fossil baffled scientists for 180 Years and it just got weirder.

ChatGPT Seems To Be Shifting to the Right. What Does That Even Mean?

ChatGPT doesn't have any political agenda but some unknown factor is causing a subtle shift in its responses.