Thursday, April 21, 2011

a big ragworm.

i found a most unusual worm on the beach today. after going for a walk along the lowest tide point as the tide was out real low, spring tide i guess, i hadn't found anything of interest and then just as i was going to the white wall about a three feet from the it i saw this massive worm on the beach. typical to find something when you've stopped looking but also very wonderful. it was wrapped between a few rocks on the sand and looked dead. i decided to pick it up. using a few rocks i dug into the surrounding sand and picked it up. suddenly, it came to life. a few sickly wriggles but definitely still here. i brought it down to the watery sand that was well out of its reach and put it down in the water. it charged up and began flinging its hundreds of millipede-like flipper/legs. then it calmed down again. figuring it may still be too close to the shore i picked it up once more and brought it further out on the beach. then once setting it down on the shore again i dug out a nice hole in the water filled sand and once it had filled up i placed the worm down in it. not too much movement this time but then it began to get busy. it started slowly digging its head in the sand and by inches and with short rests it began to disappear into the sand. as it was doing this i also noticed that the sand around it was becoming stuck together as if by some sort of snail slime and was leaving a trail as the body dug into the sand.

it was a grennish blue on top and bluish white underneath. with a head like a sea mouse.
as near as i can figure it was a ragworm about a foot long. the only description of one that big and bluish green is this one---

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nereis_vexillosa
though it seems to live mostly around america.

so here is a video that i took with my phone just after i had put it in the water the first time.
i also put my hand in the shot to show how big the worm was.

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