Smooth Goose-Neck Barnacles

This is a buoy floating at around 20 feet at Alcyone in the Cocos Island. I was surprised at the number of barnacles growing on it. This shot was taken at the end fo the dive when we were doing our safety stop. I got two shots of this, not easy as there was a bit of a current (everyone was drifting off into the blue about to surface and be picked up by the panga and I needed to stay with them).

These barnacles are free-swimming as larvae and as adults form a hard shell and live attached to submerged surfaces. Obviously these are adults but I saw lots of larvae swimming around at all depths. I tried to take some pictures of larvae but none were any good.

I really like the colors in this shot, the water was also very clear which made for a lot of detail.