Looks like intestines without face? A sea creature terrifies watchers

A group of whale watchers recently came across a terrifying bloodworm and posted a video of it on Instagram, unsettling the internet.

Intending to observe majestic whales, whale watchers from Monterey, California, encountered an unexpected guest on their dock one morning, according to What’s the Jam.

“What is this creature right out of the Twilight Zone?” They asked.

Before picking it up with a piece of cardboard and returning it to the mysterious sea world, most of which is still uncharted, the whale watchers shared the blood-red horror with the online world. Interestingly, it soon went viral with over 112,000 views.

The unusual creature’s appearance sparked a flurry of comments on social media, ranging from curious to disgusted.

“Great bait,” a fisherman likely commented.

“I never needed to see that,” someone else wrote. “Looks like intestines with a face.”

Meet the bloodworm

Blood-red with hair-like appendages trailing along its writhing cylindrical body, it appears to have emerged from a toxic waste accident with a fleshy, flat head. However, it’s merely an American bloodworm. It means no harm. It’s just a worm .

Lacking eyes, ears, or anything recognizable to humans, they come across as creatures one might expect to find in an animated film. They inhabit shallow waters and burrow rapidly into the mud. Some can reach 14 inches in length. It’s not a new species, though.

Typically pinkish with thin skin that reveals their fluids, their strikingly red color comes from the hemoglobin. This makes them particularly attractive as prey, hence their common use as bait, as per What’s the Jam . Fishermen can even buy bags of frozen bloodworms .

Preferring to remain in the mud, these carnivores attack their prey with four hollow jaws through a nose resembling a fleshy cork. They immobilize their prey with venom, as per the Instagram post. Their jaws secrete “a neurotoxin that includes serotonin and proteolytic enzymes and can cause inflammation in humans.”

Meanwhile, one person described it as “the stuff of nightmares,” according to The NYPost .

The internet gets scared

The marine creature from the depths has caused a stir across the internet. The reactions have been amusing to read.

Some comments include “Hey that’s my lower digestive system,”“Thanks, I hate it,” “He’s a cute lil dream catcher,” and “I’ll never unsee that.”

Despite the varied reactions, the Instagram post highlights that these creatures serve as a crucial food source for numerous shorebirds that frequent the sanctuary during the fall and winter seasons.

The frequency with which these creatures surface and the circumstances that led to this particular individual being on the dock remain unclear. They typically breed in the summer months, ascending into the water column before perishing.

However, another source suggests they can be lured out of their habitat by fish, as they are predatory creatures. It is possible that an enticement or unforeseen event caused this individual to emerge onto the dock.

Regardless, the whale watchers who encountered the creature have brought its existence to wider attention, although it was already known to local fishermen.