Thousands of “penis fish” washed ashore after a heavy storm

Andreas Kamasah 08:27 - 17 December 2019

Imagine going to the beach and chancing on numerous penis-like worms scattered all over the seashore.

Well thousands of them were recently discovered at a California beach on December 6 after a major storm.

Reports say the fat innkeeper worms, commonly known as “penis fish” were spotted covering Drakes Beach in Marin County.

According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the “penis fishes” survive in the muddy sand of low-zone mudflats by building U-shaped burrows.

One David Ford who discovered the worms expressed shock, saying he had never seen such a creature.

This may just be the weirdest thing you've seen today!

Thousands of these marine worms, called fat innkeeper worms—or "penis fish"—washed up on Drake's Beach after a recent storm. 🌊 But why? https://t.co/MwY6xkN3kb pic.twitter.com/vGMpSvGoAT
— Bay Nature magazine (@BayNature) December 11, 2019

“I had no idea what they might be ... it went on for two miles,” Ford told Vice Motherboard. “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.”