Featured Image Credit: New Scientist
By Sarah Sharkey
A strange creature washed up on Lanikai beach. So strange that everyone who walked by the animal were unsure of what it was.
Tiphareth Aquarian took a picture of this bizarre creature along the shoreline on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. People were so intrigued by the odd-looking animal that the local news, KHON, did a story on the washed up mystery.
The news station contacted an assistant professor of biology at the University of Hawaii in Manoa, Megan Porter. She quickly told the station that it was an argonaut.
You may be asking, “Okay, what is an argonaut?” It is a type of pelagic octopus that is also known as a paper nautilus.
Porter was able to inform the audience that the large shell is something that all females of this specific group of octopi make themselves and carry to protect their eggs.
Porter stated that it was very special that this paper nautilus was spotted by humans on shore. Usually individuals of this species are out at sea, so people do not have the opportunity to see it.
So next time you are out on the beach, keep a sharp eye out for something amazing. You never know what will wash ashore out of our awesome ocean.