Unexpected Invasion: What's Covering Australian Beaches?

"We've never seen anything so disgusting," began Australian residents as they shared their bewildering and bizarre beach findings with the media recently in one of New South Wales' more picturesque coastal areas.

This phenomenon, which began last Monday, was captured in dozens of videos that quickly went viral on social media.

A local resident, Tim Fernandez, posted footage on social networks, describing the beach as being overtaken by thousands of maggots. However, a life sciences expert from a local university, Dr. Trudy Costa, explained that the maggots are directly linked to seaweed that was washed ashore during particularly stormy weather and subsequently decomposed on the beach. "When the seaweed rots and breaks down, and the maggots die, the organisms living under the sand absorb all their nutritional value. It might smell bad while it’s happening on the beach, but it holds significant importance for other organisms in the area."