Mystery object found in Outer Banks briefly stumps experts

Some strange stuff ends up on the beach in the Outer Banks. This thing had the experts scratching their heads.

The staff at Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina took to Facebook for help identifying an unusual item that a visitor found on the shore.

The cluster of bony structures was picked up on the eastern end of Shackleford Banks. The park’s experts first guessed it might be a plumed worm case covered with white, spiny bones.

The power of social media kicked in and Facebook users soon replied with answers.

Cape Lookout updated their post: “Fisheries scientists at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, as well as many others, have identified our weird object as the remains of a striped burrfish (Chilomycterus schoepfi). The bony structures are the fish’s defensive spines. Apparently, these remains can even show up in the fossil record and are known to paleontologists.”

They took the opportunity to share the Virginia Institute of Marine Science page for help with UFOs or Unidentified Fishy Organisms.