Amazing

Paul from Levin

AMAZING!! At Hokio Beach this morning there was not a shore-bird to be seen because of the abhorrent noise and behaviour of people on 2 & 4 wheel motor bikes. Frustrated, I wandered into the tide to have a look at a log (about 2.5 metres long) which the waves were washing in to the beach. What I discovered astonished me. At first I thought I was looking at 2 forms of sea-life, shellfish and a strange sort of seaweed. But then I discovered that what I thought were shellfish were actually attached to ends of monstrous worm-like arms which moved around. I'd never seen anything like it. Co-incidentally, a couple happened to be walking by and the husband had knowledge of sea life. Apparently, what I had thought were shellfish were actually the heads and filtering system for a monstrous worm-like life form, the tail-ends of which were anchored to the log. The sad part of the story is that the creature will not survive now because, to continue to live, it needs to be under the ocean surface. I remain amazed and grateful for what I have seen and photographed, though not to the extent that could ever approve of what those people on 4-wheel motor bikes where doing to the beach and the dunes.
Thanks to Peter Langlands: "Goose barnacles are a type of shrimp that lives in a casing"