Strange animals in Australia – Photo: Reproduction/Internet
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A swimmer from the Australian state of Tasmania caused a stir on social media by sharing photos of strange creatures she found on the beach. The images show soft-looking masses of dough in an almost solid state, resembling human brains.
The woman, whose identity has not been revealed, posted the photos on Facebook in the hope that someone could tell her what these creatures were. The photos quickly spread widely, and reactions ranged from serious to hilarious.
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“Maybe some kind of sea sponge?” one netizen asked. “That’s where my mind went,” another joked.
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The scientific answer to this mystery is less terrifying than it seems. These creatures are called sea squirts, and they are not plants but animals that live in the ocean. They have claws that filter food from the water, and can attach to hard surfaces, such as rocks and shells.
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Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, ecologist and fisheries biologist Vincent Raoult said that sea squirts tend to appear in the sand during storms. “Asidian is the most common name,” he explained. “They appear in the sand during storms, when waves pick them up from the sea floor.”
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Raoul added that in the Sydney region (Australia) alone there are about 80 known species of sea squirts.
The Tasmanian swimmer’s case is not the first in which sea squirts have caught public attention. In 2019, similar creatures were found on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.
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Sea squirts are harmless animals to humans, but they can be a bit disturbing to see. However, they are an important part of the marine ecosystem, and play an important role in water purification.
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