I was excited to go to the beach this summer until I found out about beach worms. In a viral TikTok video posted by @tightlinezfishing, which currently has 33 million views, a man uses a fishtail to coax an Alaskan Bull Worm from the sand. The Australia-based account describes itself as “2 Studs who love to fish,” and has shared several “beach worming” videos, much to the disgust of everyone in their comments.  

For anyone familiar with SpongeBob, these beach worms are basically just Alaskan Bull Worms. Though like @chaiteebag, many people didn’t know they were a real thing, writing “I thought SpongeBob was exaggerating.”

@tightlinezfishing Alaskan Bull Worm #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #spongebob #alaskanbullworm #australia #fish #fishing #insane #crazy ♬ Spongebob Closing Theme Song Music - Ocean Floor Orchestra

There is some confusion about what these things are actually called though. In a video showing how to catch the worms using pliers, fishing enthusiasts like @alexis_kar provided clarity by commenting, “We call them Pharaoh warms and use them for fishing.”

@tightlinezfishing Crazy how many you must walk over #fyp #foryou #foryoupageofficiall #beach #crazy #aliens #monster #beachworms #sydney #australia #fishing #fishtok #beachwaves ♬ Come as You Phonk - lofi'chield

Meanwhile @mikelvawe, offered his take, commenting, “I believe they’re called bobbit worms and they’re somehow worse than how disturbing they are in this video,“ leading @jacelsjustbetter to suggest  “it's a blood worm,” which doesn’t help us feel any better about them.

@tightlinezfishing Beach Worms #fyp #fy #beach #foryou #sydney #foryoupage #australia #viral #insane #tiktok #crazy #fish ♬ Keep Dat Nigga - iCandy

According to the Australian Museum, there are several types of bloodworms, and “once the worm is cut, red blood drips,” which explains their gross name (and seems to imply they suck blood?).

@fishingaustralia This is a big hauk! They make great bait. #BeachWorms ♬ original sound - Boating Camping Fishing

Remember to be safe on the beach this summer, and avoid getting bit by whatever other terrors might be lurking in the sand, though thankfully, the worms in question are only in Australia (sorry to anybody who lives in there).

@fictionphysique put it perfectly “I could’ve gone my whole life without knowing about this and I would’ve been content with not knowing it.”