海洋岛屿 20

It happens on just one night a year, in November.

Armed with torches and homemade nets

These islanders prepare for a harvest.

They gather in the reef shallows

watching and waiting for what will soon be a flurry of activity.

As the moon rises, it triggers a natural phenomenon

And a very strange spectacle -

The rising of worms -

Palolo worms.

These are actually the worms' rear ends -

their reproductive segments.

The part with the head remains in the coral rock.

When they reach the surface, eggs and sperm will mix.

The tide washes the wriggling worms into the shallows

where they are scooped up by the bucketful.

The whole event lasts just a couple of hours

but in that time, hundreds of kilos can be gathered.