Nature & Environment

Mystery marine creatures found washed up on beach

By T.K. Randall
July 21, 2022 ·  8 comments

What is this thing ? Image Credit: Facebook / Cape Lookout National Seashore Resembling long, black tentacle-like structures with small bristle-like protrusions down either side, these peculiar marine creatures were found washed up on a beach in North Carolina last week.

"Weird things found on the beach -- okay everybody, we need some help identifying these objects," staff at Cape Lookout National Seashore wrote in a Facebook post accompanying the images.

"Our turtle patrol found them on the ocean side beach recently adjacent to a log covered in goose-neck barnacles (no idea if they are connected to the log or if its just a coincidence)."

"So far, we're stumped as to what they might be.""They were about 6 inches long and no longer alive. One guess was they might be a form of sea cucumber (or sea slug?), but they couldn't be matched to any images that were posted online."

The posting soon generated quite a few replies, with users suggesting a number of explanations including the possibility that these could be some form of bristle worms or fire worms.

Several indicated that they were likely to be some form of marine polychaete, while admitting that it would take a marine biologist specializing in the annelids to determine exactly what type they could be.

You can check out the original posting (and images) below.



Source: AOL News | Comments (8)

Tags: Ocean, Creature