By Sanele Chadwick
Timaru beach-goers were treated to a surprise today when they found "spoon worms" scattered across Caroline Bay.
The worms resemble something from the movie Alien and frightened some passers-by, but a marine biologist is excited by the discovery.
Hundreds of the little creatures lined Caroline Beach in Timaru, as onlookers tried to make sense of what they were seeing.
“They look like little unborn things, like little foetuses,” said one beach-goer. “Little baby birds, or baby rats, that's what they look like to us.”
Others suggested the spoon worms might morph into something more dangerous, saying “they will attack us”.
But a marine ecologist says the public has nothing to worry about and she encourages the public to go out and have a look at the creatures.
Andrea Alfaro says the discovery is exciting for marine ecologists, and she hopes to learn more from the creatures that have onlookers puzzled.
The worms were most likely brought to the surface by a storm that lifted them from deep within the sediment of the seabed. Ms Aflaro says you normally wouldn’t see them out.
The worms that have managed to stay in water could still be alive, but they're unlikely to return to their seabed homes, as they don't have any feet to help them dig into the sand..
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