 Goose barnacles (Lepas anatifera) grow in colonies on floating objects such as flotsam and jetsom, ships, buoys or whales. The common goose barnacle can be found in almost every global ocean except the polar region.
They are usually blown ashore at the mercy of the wind and waves after southwesterly gales, where they are found washed up on the shore. In the past week a large 3 metre log covered in thousands of common goose barnacles turned up in Stink corner of Kimmeridge bay.
The Goose barnacle got its name from a belief that they were the juvenile form of Geese. This was partly due to the fact that the breeding places of many geese were unknown (such as Brent goose and the Barnacle goose that breeds on Arctic islands).
The barnacle consists of a long brown manoeuverable 'neck' that attaches to the floating object and a white shell with orange tinges on the edges. These creatures are usually around 1.5cm long but were found to be up to 6cm when washed ashore in Kimmeridge. They feed in the upper surface of the sea by use of their feathery legs protruding out from their shell to grab passing plankton.
The shell molts as the barnacle grows and it is for this reason that the barnacles are thought to be closely related to crustaceans (crabs, lobsters etc.) as they all have an external skeleton and possess jointed legs! The Goose barnacles are hermaphrodites meaning that they can change sex. | 
