Stranded ram's horn shell covered in small goose barnacles. Found on the beach in Port Alfred (Eastern Cape, South Africa), 2024. Shell cylindrical, forming a loose, flat spire, and made up of a series of chambers.Rarely seen, the animal is squid-like, with eight short arms and two long tentacles. About 25 mm. The live animal… Continue reading Ram’s horn shell (Spirula spirula)
Tag: stranded
African penguin (Spheniscus demersus)
Dead specimen of jackass penguin washed up on the beach. Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2024). Also called the jackass penguin. The only species of penguins that breeds in southern Africa. Adults are jet black, with diagnostic striped head and sides. Some have a double breast band as in the Magellanic penguin, but with a narrower… Continue reading African penguin (Spheniscus demersus)
Cape gannet (Morus capensis)
Dead Cape gannet washed ashore. Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2024). The largest gannet in the Sulidae family. Adult white with golden head, black stripe across the eyes and long black gular stripe down the throat, black tail and flight feathers. Some have 1 - 4 white outer-tail feathers. Pale blue bill pointed with fine serrations… Continue reading Cape gannet (Morus capensis)
Indo-Pacific man-of-war (Physalia utriculus)
Bluebottle washed on the rocks. Cape Agulhas, Western Cape (2020) - iNaturalist Unmistakable with its inflated blue-green float and long trailing tentacles. Float 50 mm long, tentacles up to 10 m long, but contracting to about 30 cm. Floats on the surface of the sea and is vulnerable to being cast ashore by onshore winds.… Continue reading Indo-Pacific man-of-war (Physalia utriculus)
