This Light Bulb Found Washed Ashore Supports a Tiny Ecosystem

An incredible image on picture-sharing site Imgur shows a light bulb that was found on a beach supporting in its own tiny microsystem.

Found washed up on the shore by the poster’s brother, the lightbulb is shown covered in marine life including two crabs.

After being posted on Imgur, the image was shared to Reddit with the caption:

“My brother found this life-bulb washed up on an Australian beach. It was all alive and it floated”.

One commenter identified the covering as gooseneck barnacles saying:

“Marine life is so opportunistic. Those gooseneck barnacles have a reputation for growing on anything but I’m still a bit surprised they could get a foothold on glass. It’s amazing the crabs are still on there - they had a really sweet home till that thing washed up on the beach”.

The unusual image provoked hundreds of comments including a long conversation about how the find could be made into an animated film with one commenter saying:

“Can you imagine the journey of those creatures on the bulb? There is Pixar movie from that just waiting to be made”.

After taking the picture, the bulb was put reportedly put back in the sea.

Image credit: Imgur/Reddit/tellamgood