Just a year after beaches started reopening post-quarantine, a plague of biting worms called clamworms have invaded South Carolina beaches. Scientists have issued a warning to beachgoers.
“You may not want to go swimming . . . as clamworms do have a set of hooked jaws,” the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) said in a Facebook post. “These animals that ordinarily live on the seafloor undergo an incredible transformation under new and full moons in spring – their bodies morph into reproductive forms called ‘epitokes’ as they swarm in coastal waters.”
A video shows the orange creatures, which look like a centipede with feathers, swarming the surface of the water.
These little worms may look cute, but the marine invertebrates can clamp onto fingers with their hook-like jaws. They are also strong enough to break the skin, according to experts at Walla Walla University in Washington.
Aside from the danger, “it’s hard not to appreciate such an unusual coastal sight,” SCDNR wrote. “Nothing says spring on the coast — like a frenzy of marine worms?”
But if you miss it this year, don’t worry. Every spring these sea worms gather in the waters off Charleston, SC to look for a mate.
Hungry groups of fish and birds usually follow the swarm of worms.
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Democrap worms