Lepas anatifera

Or Pelagic gooseneck barnacles.
A rare find on the beach, the little shells, shiny grey, have an asymmetrical sail shape and let sometimes a tuff of brown cirri protrude from their head. It looks a bit like goose feathers which is why already in the 13th centrury people believed that the babies of the Barnacle Geese were bred in these shells.
These crustaceans attach themselves with a wormlike shape to floating limber and start reproducing as soon as they are about an inch long, and they can do that always as they are hermaphrodites. Most of what you see here was smaller, rather as big as a thumbnail. And a little lower on the log there were thousands of babies, all attached already to the log.
with a baby-worm. The worms were about 5 times the lengths of the shells. 
Maybe not the most appetizing sight but very special to me...

Thank you very much for all the kind feed back for the yellow skunk cabbage. It is supposed to smell badly, but even close to shore I never smelled anything. In times of famine the local Indians ate every part of this plant and many good and healthy things could be achieved by using their leaves and roots.