Thousands of ‘penis fish’ take over miles of this California beach. But what are they?
The most frightening of the deep-sea horrors that lurk at the bottom of the ocean have nothing on the “penis fish.” Thousands of the pink, worm-like creatures were spotted washed ashore on Drakes Beach in California last week, according to Bay Nature.
Photographer David Ford was walking along the beach on Dec. 6 after a storm when he noticed a large flock of seagulls feasting on something in the sand, according to Marin Independent Journal.
The worms spanned for miles.
“I had no idea what they might be ... it went on for two miles,” Ford told Vice. “I walked for another half hour and they were scattered everywhere. There were seagulls lined up the beach the whole way having eaten so much they could barely stand. A quarter of them looked like they were still alive. The rest were dead, they had a dead sea-creature smell.”
Biologist Ivan Parr wrote for Bay Nature that they’re actually called Urechis caupo, but more commonly known as fat innkeeper worms or “penis fish.” They’re native to California but usually remain underground and dig a “U-shaped” hole in the ocean floor to trap food, explaining their distinctive shape.
Parr didn’t know exactly why they washed up on the beach, but thinks that it probably has something to do with the recent storm, he wrote in Bay Nature.
This isn’t the first time “penis fish” have washed up on California’s shores, either.
In October 2016, millions of fat innkeeper worms were spotted by beachgoers at Bodega Bay, per Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network.
“There were so many, you could hardly help stepping on them,” Sam Earnshaw told SIMoN. “We didn’t walk to the north, but it looked like they continued up that way. There were lots of seagulls, but only a few would pick them up, wash them in the ocean, and reluctantly gulp them down. Sometimes they would just drop them.”
The worms are also considered a delicacy in South Korea and are called gaebul, per the Guardian. They can be found in seafood markets and are typically consumed raw with a savory sauce, according to Atlas Obscura.
