Every year, billions of black ice worms crawl from the ice on Mount Rainier. We have no idea why.
By Cameron Duke about 13 hours ago
We don't know much about the worms, but what we do know is pretty weird.
Black ice worm on Mount Rainier. (Image credit: Scott Hotaling)
The glacial slopes of Mount Rainier might seem lifeless at first glance. That is, until the ice worms emerge.
As if on cue, billions of black, threadlike worms wriggle their way to the surface of the snow every summer, when the sun directly strikes the glaciers. And scientists still don't know why.
If they want the answer to that question or any other related to this mysterious creature, scientists have to act fast. Black ice worms (Mesenchytraeus solifugus) are the only worm species known to science that spend their entire lives in ice. As glaciers in the region shrink due to global warming, these worms risk becoming extinct alongside them.
To beat the ticking clock, Scott Hotaling, a biologist at Washington State University, makes sure that as soon as ice worms appear on the mountain's Paradise Glacier, so does he. Hotaling is one of the few people who actively studies this species.
More:
https://www.livescience.com/black-ice-worms-mount-rainier.html?utm_source=notification
