It will look like a cemented miniature armadillo toe poking out of a rock.
When I visited Samil, I only saw colonies of dead rock barnacles. Goose barnacles are difficult to find since they are often hunted.
I did not see a living barnacle. I only saw a dead colony of barnacles. I was intrigued by the abundance of the barnacles. I wanted to know what I was looking at because like limpets, the colonies of barnacles were all over the rocky shore here in Vigo.
As plankton, they drift in the ocean or marine ecosystem. As adults barnacles, they live rested in one place forever. It is common to see them on rocks that are in intertidal areas such as the shore of a beach. The ocean waves crash onto them and provide them with food. Most live in water less than 300 feet deep.
Barnacles are animals that feed off of plankton and organic matter that they comb out of the water. Barnacles live in dangerous places such as on a rocky shore where waves crash furiously. They can survive in both salt and fresh water. During the winter, the barnacles use their energy reserves to survive because they do not eat.
Like most animals in the fishing industry, barnacles are overfished. The fishing of goose barnacles in Galicia has been regulated. Initiatives like the Spanish Galicia Goose Barnacle Cofradia System have attempted to reduce overfishing and restore profitability.
