By ROBERT DRYJA
Los Alamos

We had reported previously that archival laboratory reports show that several Los Alamos physicists and biologists had visited the Hy-yi-yi archipelago shortly before its destruction.

It was not too distant from the Bikini Atoll where 23 nuclear bomb tests were conducted in the 1940s. The Hy-yi-yi archipelago unfortunately was destroyed as an unanticipated side effect of the nuclear testing. 

All of the Rhinogradentia species (popularly called Snouters) at the archipelago became extinct. Snouters had evolved noses that could be used for gliding or flipping across the rocky volcanic landscape. Readers may be interested in the source book, “The Snouters: Form and Life of the Rhinogrades” by Harald Stumpke.

Reference text about snouters. Courtesy/Amazon

The scientists had established an enclosed breeding colony in the Co-ro-na-do Mountains not too far from the laboratory.  A number of Rhinogradentia escaped by flying or flipping out of this colony before it was destroyed by forest fires.  They evidently were able to cross breed with Ochotona (popularly called pica).  The hybrid offspring have a modified nose and tail. Radiation induced mutations may have created greater cross-species breeding plasticity in the case of Rhinogradentia and Ochotana, (see https://ladailypost.compeec-amateur-naturalist-the-reemergence-of-rhinogrades/).

Additional review of archival laboratory reports shows that physicists and biologists also were interested in earthworms and leeches.  Their particular interest was in the possible impact of nuclear radiation at or below ground level and the resulting effects on living creatures.  They were concerned with the interaction of leeches with earthworms.  Could radiation levels increase along the food chain when leeches ate radioactive earthworms?  Charles Darwin’s last book was their reference starting point, (The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms, with Observations on their Habits).

They went to Victoria in Australia to collect giant earthworms and the island of Borneo for giant leeches.  These areas are all in the south Pacific and not too distant from the Hy-yi-yi archipelago. The earthworms may be as long as nine feet and the leaches about 1 ½ feet.  The giant earthworms and leeches were brought to the same breeding colony in the Co-ro-na-do Mountains.  It was assumed they were killed in the forest fire that passed through area, the same as had occurred for the Rhinogradentia.  However the earthworms were protected by living underground and at considerable depth. The leeches similarly had protection by being at ground level. 

The earthworms and leeches evidently have been slowly spreading out from the now long-abandoned breeding colony site. Their presence may be detected into three ways.  First, the earthworms come to surface when their burrowing tubes become flooded with rainwater. This is similar to what occurs with other species of earthworms.  The leeches then attack the earthworms as a source of food.  A leech may swallow an earthworm whole like a strand of spaghetti, (see Picture 2).  A good time to see such an event is after a night-long rain shower and before daylight.  Worms then will have had time to come to the surface after the soil has been thoroughly soaked.  The worms go back underground when daylight occurs.

Picture 2. Giant red leech of Kinabalu, Borneo swallowing an earthworm. Courtesy photo

Video reference: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11123365/Giant-flesh-eating-leech-filmed-swallowing-huge-earthworm-like-spaghetti.html

A second way to see them is by exploring around construction sites where the ground is disturbed. Road construction areas (such as now around town) are ideal since long sections of roadside soil are exposed, (see picture 3). Rainwater streaming along a roadside further increases the likelihood of seeing them, (see picture 4).  A third way is to listen quietly and patiently when preparing a yard for gardening.  Farmers in Australia report hearing the squishing sound that a giant earthworm makes while moving along its underground tunnel. A worm can be located by digging toward the sound.

A possible fourth way is look for the small mounds created by earthworms when they excrete at the surface. Observers notice that some mounds have blue glow when seen at night, possibly due to concentrated radiation. However scavenging click beetles or railroad worms may be the actual source of the glow.

An earthworm can contract its length. This results in a shorter but thicker earthworm. This is how the worm can expand to fill the width of a tunnel it is digging. Water coming from behind down a tunnel then cannot reach the head of an earthworm. It also can stretch lengthwise, resulting in a longer but thinner worm, (see pictures 5 and 6). It then is easier to move since it is not like a cork pushing against the tunnel wall on all sides.

Picture 3. A giant earthworm found in exposed soil at a construction site. Photo by Beverley Van Praagh   

Picture 4. A giant red leech crossing rain-soaked ground. Courtesy photo

Picture 5. A giant Australian Earthworm that has contracted itself to be about two feet long. Photo by Kelli Mace

Picture 6. A worm that has stretched out to be about six feet long. Photo by Rodney Start/Museums Victoria

Editor’s note: When mulling over the facts in this story think about today’s date…