Spotting amazing, strange, weird, and wonderful creatures in 1770
Round 2 of our countdown to the top 5 strangest, weirdest, coolest, and most unusual creatures we’ve encountered while kayaking and exploring the natural beauty of 1770.
Whilst dolphins, turtles, and whales steal the show (and who doesn’t love them?), there’s something magical about uncovering the under-appreciated oddballs of nature. It’s my obsession—finding these quirky critters, digging into the research, and marveling at how much more there is to discover even after over a decade of exploring.
So, without further ado, here’s another batch of weird and wonderful discoveries!
#5 Scorpion Mud Lobster
Meet the crustacean version of a mini backhoe!
We found this bizarre critter during one of our Nature Tours while poking around the mangroves. Scorpion Mud Lobsters look just like their name - part scorpion, part lobster! They don’t live in water like your average lobster—they’re burrowers! Their large claws aren’t for cracking coconuts but for digging intricate burrows in muddy coastal zones.
The burrows act as drainage channels for the mangrovesand bring up nutrients from uo to 4m depth, which means these lobsters are basically civil engineers for their ecosystems.The muddy "volcanoes" they leave behind are often the only clue to their presence because they’re nocturnal and rarely seen outside their holes.
Mangroves: 1
Social life: 0
#4 Obese Sea Pen
If coral and a jellyfish had a baby and fed it too much.
This gelatinous creature, spotted during a morning paddle, is actually a colonial animal! The "pen" is a soft skeleton that supports hundreds of tiny individual polyps working together like roommates in a share house.
Why the “obese” part? It’s, well, chunky compared to its cousins, bulging with stored nutrients and looking like something you’d find at a bakery, not the seafloor. They anchor themselves into sandy areas and sway like neon-lit dancers (they are bioluminescent!) in the current.
It’s hard to spot one in the wild if not scuba diving, so finding one was like uncovering a hidden treasure!
#3 Sea Swallow
A real-life Pokémon!
This impossibly beautiful creature—also known as Glaucus atlanticus—floats upside-down on the surface of the water, flaunting its vivid blue hues. I found some washed up on the beach, and it felt like spotting a mythical creature.
Sea Swallows are part of what’s called the "Blue Fleet"—a collection of small, venomous drifters that includes the bluebottles, blue buttons, and violet snails and by-the-wind-sailors. They drift together at the mercy of the winds and currents, creating a floating armada of blues and purples.
Sea Swallows feed on the Portuguese man o' war, storing its venom in their cerata (those feathery appendages) to unleash on their own enemies. They look like a tiny dragon to me!
#2 Peanutworm
It’s not a worm. It’s not a peanut. It’s a Peanutworm.
Discovered by accident while digging around in the sand (as one does), this squishy, tubular creature might win the prize for the least photogenic critter on this list. Peanutworms, or sipunculans, are marine worms that can contract into a peanut shape when disturbed.
Now, let’s just address the elephant in the room—or rather, the worm. Peanutworms have a, shall we say, suggestive appearance that might make a few people squirm. I’ve seen grown adults giggle and blush when they first lay eyes on one!
They spend their days living in burrows or empty shells, filter-feeding microscopic goodies.
We nicknamed ours “Mr. Wiggles” before promptly returning it to the mud (after the laughs had died down, of course).
#1 Ringed Sap-Sucking Slug
Because sometimes, you just need a slug that looks like a 1970s fashion icon.
This flamboyant little slug feeds on algae and sports bright yellow and black rings that scream, “Notice me!” It was spotted wading in shallow water on a sandbank during a Nature tour.
Notice the set of exposed, green gills on its back (third image)—like a feathery backpack, constantly in motion as it breathes underwater. These delicate structures make the slug look even more otherworldly, almost like it’s wearing a piece of aquatic art.
What’s fascinating also is that it’s a kleptoplast, meaning it steals chloroplasts from the algae it eats and uses them to photosynthesize. That’s right—this slug can make its own energy from sunlight, like a plant!
It’s fabulous, it’s photosynthetic, it's tiny and it’s our number one weirdest creature in 1770!
Next time you’re exploring Agnes Water and 1770, join us for a tour—we promise to share our passion for these incredible and unusual creatures. You’ll leave with a newfound appreciation for the oddities of nature and, if you’re lucky, a few tall tales to tell.
