Goose barnacles (Lepas anatifera) - geograph.org.uk - 1159130

Description:

Summary[edit] Description: English: Goose barnacles (Lepas anatifera). A cluster of dried-up goose barnacles attached to a rope hanging in a porch: they were found on a nearby beach a few years ago. This is a remarkable creature, which lives in deep water and is usually seen only when rough weather has torn them away from their attachment to such things as rocks, driftwood, boats or fishing equipment. "Goose barnacles gave rise to one of the strangest of animal beliefs. The heart-shaped shell, or 'capitulum', is a chalky-white in colour and has black lines, which were thought to resemble the head of the barnacle goose Branta leucopsis. Because barnacle geese rarely nest in Britain no-one had ever seen their eggs or nests. It was supposed, therefore, that the geese 'grew up on the planks of ships' and the birds finally emerged clothed in feathers and flew away. This curious theory also provided a convenient way round the church's ban on eating meat or flesh on Fridays. As the barnacle goose was obviously "not born of the flesh" but from a barnacle, they could be eaten not just on Fridays but throughout Lent!" Information from http://www.arkive.org/goose-barnacle/lepas-anatifera/info.html where there is also an image of the live barnacles with their long flexible 'necks' (which are considered a delicacy in Cornwall and other parts of the world.) For a barnacle goose see 700390. Date: 12 February 2009. Source: From geograph.org.uk. Author: ceridwen. Attribution(required by the license)ceridwen / Goose barnacles (Lepas anatifera) / CC BY-SA 2.0. ceridwen / Goose barnacles (Lepas anatifera). Camera location51° 59′ 41″ N, 4° 56′ 57″ W View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap 51.994600; -4.949300. Object location51° 59′ 41″ N, 4° 56′ 57″ W View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap 51.994600; -4.949300.