Yes, it's time we put you out of your misery and revealed what last week's Item of Interest actually was. Despite cries of it being a facehugger (LẌ), an albino's penis head (Hound), and Winnie the Pooh cosplay porn (yes, thank you, Mr Peenee), the item in question was...
::drumroll::
A sea gooseberry (scientific name Pleurobrachia pileus)!
These little blobs of jelly can be found around the coastlines of Great Britain and northern Europe from early summer to autumn, often washed ashore where they gleam like jewels on the sand.
* Thank you Mago for the post title.
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Now, on to some more photos from The Day The Sea Gooseberries Attacked, AKA 17th June:
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| Despite being gnarled, battered, and well past its sell-by date, this old groyne centres up a treat, wouldn't you say, Dinah? |
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| Sidestrand |
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| Overstrand |
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| A lone oystercatcher |
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| See? Jewel-like, isn't it? |
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| One can make out this sea gooseberry's innards in these photos. Charming, eh? |
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| The tide's coming in... |
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Then, a day later, a calm sea belies a returning horror...
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| Inexcuseable's husband beats a hasty retreat as a hideous sea monster rises from the depths... (if you click the link, scroll down to the 31st of July) |
There. That wasn't so bad, was it?
Oh. That was easy?! I can't wait for a difficult one. Jx
ReplyDelete::rubs hands together and thinks up devilishly difficult IoIs::
DeleteAround here, it's wiser NOT to pick up any jelly-like blobs.They're likely to be Irukandji Irukandji jellyfish are a type of deadly venomous box jellyfish. With an adult size of roughly a cubic centimetre, they are both one of the smallest and most venomous jellyfish in the world. They inhabit the marine waters of Australia and the U.S.A. Wikipedia
ReplyDeleteBut the groyne photos, as always, are great.
It's a wonder anyone in Australia goes anywhere and does anything?!
DeleteNice Thingy contest!
ReplyDeletePS: I would not personally be touching any jellyfish. Don't ask how I arrived at that position.
I won't ask, I'll just patiently wait for a blog post explaining it all... Unless it involves you getting wee-ed on, or you weeing on someone else to alleviate a jellyfish sting.
DeleteI don't believe it. If your local Chinese supermarket is selling you lychees like that I'd change allegiance.
ReplyDeleteNow I know how they managed to sell them so cheaply.
Deletewho knew? ;) xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteClearly no one! I'll have to make the next IoI a bit easier :)
DeleteHow are they prepared & how do they taste ? Do they make a little plopping noise when one bites them ?
ReplyDeleteThey taste like warm, soft ice-cubes, I would imagine, what with being mostly water? As for preparing them, I think they'd just disintigrate - a bit like this.
DeleteIs there going to be another thingy contest??? Maybe a thingy tinny hat contest. I have missed all the fun :-(
ReplyDeleteSx
Funny you should mention it, but Savvy's asked about another Tin Hat Compo, too (in the next post)...
Delete