A dog walker stopped in his tracks by a bizarre sight as he strolled along a Welsh beach later found out it was worth around £4,000. Holidaymaker Dave McGirr discovered thousands of “extraordinary” white-shelled creatures clinging to a 20ft tree trunk washed up on the Criccieth shoreline.
As a keen photographer, his first instinct was to capture the “peculiar” driftwood castaways before looking them up on Google: “I found out they are gooseneck barnacles, described as rare 'alien-like' sea creatures,” he said. “They are said to be a delicacy, selling for more than £80 a kilo.”
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Further research revealed another person had come across a similar driftwood find in Caernarfon two years ago. It was covered with around 2,000 barnacles and was said to be worth a small fortune. Photo comparisons of the two finds suggests the Criccieth haul is the larger of the two, North Wales Live reports.
By then, Dave had moved on to Snowdonia and he hasn’t been back to discover if anyone has claimed Criccieth’s seaside goldmine. “At the time I posted the photos on Facebook without thinking them particularly newsworthy,” he said, adding that he was anxious “not to create a stampede”. The rare species of barnacle are a delicacy in countries such as Portugal and Spain where they are known as percebes. Export prices of up to £300 per kilo have been reported, though they can now be bought fresh online for around £80-£90 per kilo – or cheaper if frozen.
“When you get close, you can see they are like small octopuses, or squid,” he said. “They have tiny tentacles that reach out from their shells. I’ve never tried eating them and, having now seen them, I’m not sure I’d want to try.”
Depending on size, they fetch about £2 each, making Dave’s find worth around £3,000-£5,000. The taste is said to resemble a cross between lobster and clam, with a texture similar to octopus. Traditionally gathered from underwater rocks and crevices on Spain’s Costa da Morte, or Coast of Death, they are among the world’s most expensive seafoods. The price reflects the dangers involved in gathering them by Percebeiros – specialist gooseneck barnacle fishermen who risk their lives diving beneath crashing waves.
Dave’s photos created excitement on social media: “Aliens have landed!!” said one woman. Dave is a retired sales manager from south Staffordshire who has a caravan in Criccieth and is a regular visitor to Wales.
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