Valdez in Chugach Census Area, Alaska — Northwest (North America)
Ice Creatures?!
Photographed by Bill Coughlin, August 29, 2026
1. Ice Creatures?! Marker
Ice worms really do exist. Not only go these tiny creatures live in Alaska legends, they also live on many Alaska glaciers.
What are they?
Ice worms are segmented annelids, similar to earthworms. Two species are known to exist, both about a half inch long, dark brown and as thin as a thread.
How do ice worms survive?
Relatively little is known about these creatures or how they survive and thrive in temperatures that would put an end to most forms of life.
Lifestyles of the small and famous
Ice worms don’t sunbathe. They avoid sunlight and heat, surfacing only at dusk. It’s no wonder their scientific name is Mesenchytraeus solifungus, which means “sun avoiding.”
They dance for their dinner. Ice worms sometimes attach their posterior to the ice and wriggle the other end erratically. Why? They’re probably collecting food particles from glacial run-off.
Ice worms have a ball! Actually, sometimes they are a ball. In puddles, 10-20 worms may tangle together in a knot. This is presumed to be mating behavior.
How they got Famous
Poet Robert Service immortalized ice worms with his “The Ballad of the Ice-Worm Cocktail” before most folks knew
this page online
. . . Their bellies were a bilious blue, their eyes a bulbous red,
Their backs were grey and gross were they, and hideous of head.
And when with gusto and a fork the barman speared one out,
It must have gone four inches from its tail-tip to its snout.”
Today, you can celebrate these mysterious creatures at the Cordova Ice Worm Festival every February . . . or take an “ice worm safari” at the visitor center near Portage Glacier.
Location. 61° 10.032′ N, 145° 42.869′ W. Marker is in Valdez in Chugach Census Area, Alaska. It can be reached from Worthington Glacier Road, on the right when traveling south. Marker is at the Worthington Glacier State Recreation Site. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 28.7 Richardson Hwy, Valdez AK 99686, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southcentral Alaska. It is also on the American Pacific Coast. Globally, it is in North America, on the Ring of Fire, on the Pacific Rim, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and in the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds
Photographed by Bill Coughlin, August 29, 2026
2. Ice Creatures?! Marker
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Cracked Ice (a few steps from this marker); Worthington Glacier (a few steps from this marker); 2100 Pounds of Gold Abandoned on Thompson Pass (a few steps from this marker); Worthington Glacier Through Time (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Where to Find a Glacier (about 400 feet away); Gold Rush Pioneer Trail: The Richardson Highway, Oldest Highway in Alaska (approx. 5.2 miles away); Horse and Sled Trail (approx. 8.3 miles away); Old Railroad Tunnel (approx. 8.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Valdez.
More about this marker. Several photographs on the marker depict close up pictures of an ice worm. They have captions of “Sharp bristles (pointing in opposite directions at each end) help ice worms burrow into, back out of or attach themselves to the ice.”; “With a face only a mother could love, ice worms have few neighbors to bother them.”; and “Ice worms probably eat red algae (pictured), pollen grains and fern spores off the snow.”
Credits. This page was last revised on September 19, 2026. It was originally submitted on September 19, 2026, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 7 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 19, 2026, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.
