(CNN) A horde of large, fat worms descended upon a central California beach, spooked out of their burrows by a bomb cyclone. What were these alien creatures, and why'd they end up on shore? Ford sent his quandary and the surreal images of the Drakes Beach shore to Bay Nature magazine , a local science publication. They are not franks but fat innkeeper worms, almost as old as the wet sand in which they burrow. And their appearance was rare: The stranding Ford stumbled into might've been one of the few times they'd ever left the ground in their adult lives, biologist Ivan Parr told CNN.

Source: CNN December 14, 2019 17:15 UTC