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The "giant carnivorous" bobbit worm turns Blue Planet II into an actual horror movie

The "giant carnivorous" bobbit worm turns Blue Planet II into an actual horror movie

This is the stuff of nightmares

Ben Allen

Anyone who has a (very rational) fear of unknown creatures lurking in the depths of the ocean had their worst nightmares realised on last night's episode of Blue Planet II.

David Attenborough introduced us all to a nightmarish creature known as the bobbit, a metre-long worm with jaws as sharp as daggers – and we're not likely to forget about it any time soon.

The worm, which hunts its prey by creeping along the sea floor, can split a fish in two with ease using its terrifying mouth – and that's the best of two outcomes. Any of its victims who are unfortunate enough to survive it's initial attack are then pulled into its crevice - where we can only imagine unspeakable horrors occur.

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Many horrified viewers took to Twitter to share their dismay:

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Some viewers are ruling out swimming altogether as a result:

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To make matters worse – a Wired article from a few years back has given us further terrifying insight into the creature.

Apparently these worms have appeared sporadically in aquariums (!), much closer to home than the depths of big blue.

"When folks introduce live rocks — which are actually skeletons of dead coral — into their saltwater aquariums, a teeny-tiny bobbit worm can come along for the ride," Wired's Matt Simon writes, "but they don’t stay small for long." Mother of god.

Authors

Ben AllenOn Demand Writer, RadioTimes.com

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