Back to Show
Deep Look
Beware of Flesh-Eating Sand Piranhas at the Beach
Season 11
Episode 17
Known as sand piranhas, Excirolana chiltoni are tiny crustaceans that nibble at your feet – and draw blood – if you hang out on the wet sand at the beach. They live on the Pacific coast of the U.S. and Canada, and the shorelines of Japan. Here's how to keep them from ruining your vacay!
Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.
Support Provided By

4:33
The spotted wing drosophila may look like a common fruit fly, but it’s so much worse.

5:13
Those precious silk garments in your closet were made by the caterpillars of a fuzzy moth.

3:58
Barnacles might look like jagged little rocks, but they have a surprisingly wild sex life.

4:36
Honeypot ants stuff members of their own colony until they look like tiny water balloons.

4:25
What animal sprays acid that reeks of vinegar from its rear end? A vinegaroon, of course.

4:31
The cage fungus looks and smells like decaying meat — on purpose.

5:12
Subterranean termites fly off in swarms, and then drop their wings to start new colonies.

4:59
A twig is actually just one of many disguises for the Australian walking stick insect.

4:46
They might look like harmless grasshoppers, but locusts have an appetite for destruction.

4:58
A kissing bug gorges on your blood, plus it may carry a potentially deadly parasite.

4:38
Skeleton shrimp anatomy can be confusing, with their funky assortment of body parts.

4:42
Tadpole shrimp are a special type of time-traveling crustacean called triops.