Stay Eat Events Weather Beaches

Strange Filament Discoveries on Oregon Coast Explained: Weird Cellophane Worm

Published 03/03/2018 at 12:35 PM PDT - Updated 03/04/2018 at 1:35 PM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

Strange Filament-like Finds on Oregon Coast Explained: the Weird Cellophane Worm

(Oregon Coast) – A puzzling sight for visitors to the Oregon coast has become the subject of many questions to locals, especially the Seaside Aquarium. Small, filament-like objects are washing up left and right onto the beaches, looking a bit like jumbled masses of high tech garbage – or perhaps something a little alien. (Photos courtesy Seaside Aquarium).

Tiffany Boothe of Seaside Aquarium snagged these shots in recent days, showing what are the former bodies of a marine life called the cellophane worm.

“Tube worm casings have been washing in and quite a few people have been asking us about them,” Boothe said. “These casings, produced by the cellophane worm (Spichaetopterus costarum), often wash ashore in masses along the Oregon coast.

“Living just below the low tide line of sandy beaches, cellophane worms build and inhabit these seemingly plastic 'tubes,' which become encrusted with sand. Currents and upwellings bring these tubes to the surface, eventually distributing them onto shore.”

They are tiny – about one to two centimeters long – which makes those blobs of them a little more remarkable.

This tiny critter has rings around it. It lives just below the surface of the sand and is covered in a tube. The cellophane worms' casings get knocked off of them during high surf events and pile up on the shore. The creatures themselves disappear back beneath the surface, however.

Latest Coastal Lodging News Alerts
In Seaside:
Includes exclusive listings; some specials in winter
In Cannon Beach:
Includes rentals not listed anywhere else
In Manzanita, Wheeler, Rockaway Beach:
Some specials for winter
In Pacific City, Oceanside:
Some specials for winter
In Lincoln City:
Some specials for winter
In Depoe Bay, Gleneden Beach:
Some specials for winter
In Newport:
Look for some specials
In Waldport
Some specials for winter
In Yachats, Florence
Some specials for winter

Why do they suddenly appear? It comes down to the creatures being taken by surprise by the way sand levels can build up quickly, then they get bounced around when their new real estate suddenly turns out to be too close to a raucous surface.

CoastWatch’s Fawn Custer told Oregon Coast Beach Connection in 2016 the creatures are there all the time, it’s just that certain conditions unearth them and scatter them onshore.

“They feel like hair,” she said. “They're very pliable. You can squeeze them.”

Cellophane worms live just beyond the low tide line, where the tubes sit near or just above the surface of the sand and suck in their food, which is tiny bits of formerly living matter in the ocean. When the tubes come off, they grow another by secreting a kind of goo that eventually hardens back into another tube. Oregon Coast Hotels in these areas - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

Oregon Coast Lodging






 

More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....

More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....

 

Oregon Coast event or adventure you can't miss

 



Coastal Spotlight


LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles

What's Up (and Down) with Oregon / Washington Coast King Tides This Weekend
No major storms so likley no massive waves
Astoria's Pigeon Steps a Quirky but Scenic Walk of Oregon Coast History
Paved walkways with curious strips, charming but awkward. Astoria history
Update on S. Oregon Coast Closures at Sunset Bay Campground, Shore Acres
What's opening near Coos Bay and what isn't yet: travel, hiking advice. Coos Bay, Charleston
Commercial Dungeness Crab Opens on N. Oregon Coast, Washington
The fishery opens Jan. 15 from Cape Falcon to Klitsap Beach. Marine sciences
Oregon Coast Winter Chills the Rates at Lincoln City, Cannon Beach
This time of year cheaper but some dive down even farther. Cannon Beach hotel specials, Lincoln City hotel specials
Indistinct Oregon Coast Day Turns Into Surreal, Intense Colors At Lincoln Cit...
From blue waves to wild shades at dusk and overnight
N. Oregon Coast's Astoria Riverwalk Trail Getting Lighting
About ten blocks of the trail will get new lights
Old, Familiar Oregon Coast Landmark Tree Falls Off Garibaldi's Three Graces
There for a good 150 years, toppled by a windstorm. Tillamook Bay, Rockaway Beach, Oceanside, Cape Meares

Back to Oregon Coast

Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net
All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted

Oregon Coast Lodging
Rentals
Specials

Dining

Events Calendar

Oregon Coast Weather

Travel News

Search for Oregon Coast Subjects, Articles

Virtual Tours, Maps
Deep Details