A large, plump colony of worms descended on a central California beach, scaring them out of their burrows by a storm of bombs.
Wildlife enthusiast David Ford captured the foreboding scene, which looked as if a plane full of animals had opened its hatch and let the dogs rain down on the deserted beach.
What are these alien creatures and why did they come ashore?
Ford sent his predicament and surreal images of the Drakes Coast to Bay Nature magazine, a local science publication.
They were not insects but the innkeeper’s fat worms, almost as old as the wet sand in which they burrowed. And their occurrences are rare: The Ford’s stranding may have been one of the few times they left the ground as adults, biologist Ivan Parr told CNN.
Confrontation with these strange creatures
Tuberous worms can live their entire lives underground, hiding in u-shaped burrows beneath the moist sand along the California coast.
Known to biologists and amateurs as the “penis fish” because of its phallic shape, the innkeeper worm gets its name for temporarily housing smaller creatures in its burrows that rarely occur. conflict.
Pea crabs, clams and small arrow gobies share space with the worm and eat the food it excretes, although there is little of it for the worm.
The innkeeper’s fat worms don’t need to rise to the surface where otters, gulls and humans (they’re a Korean savory delicacy) can hunt as they can spin a slimy net to catch food and reproduce from the water. the comfort of their den.
Unless of course a storm hits.
“We are seeing the risks of building houses with sand,” Parr wrote in Bay Nature. “Strong storms – especially during El Niño years – are quite capable of encircling tidal zones, breaking up sediments and leaving their contents stranded onshore.”
Powerful storms that hit Drakes Beach around Thanksgiving brought up to an inch of rain and 45 mph wind gusts into the area, which may have caused the worm to emerge, Parr said. told CNN.
Two previous mass strandings in 2010 and 2016 occurred during El Niño weather, characterized by warmer-than-average waters that regularly bring more rain to California.
Do the ropes hurt them?
Biologists don’t know.
The resilient worms are ancient creatures, Parr said, their burrows dating back about 300 million years, and one of the oldest worms ever found is thought to be 25 years old.
But because they live mainly underground, innkeeper worms are difficult to quantify, he said. The impact of stranding on their populations will likely remain hidden as long as the worms do so.
