The British public is calling on government officials to launch an inquest into the “murder” of the U.K.’s largest worm after London’s Natural History Museum (NHM) revealed it deliberately killed the creature.
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#JusticeForDave began trending on social media Friday after Emma Sherlock, who chairs the Earthworm Society of Britain, told BBC that the worm named “Dave” had been euthanized — something she called “the sad bit of science.”
“We were as kind as we possibly could.”
“Dave is now preserved in the museum collections, and will now be useful to science,” Sherlock added, saying the worm would be used to educate scientists and experts for years to come. “He will then be around basically forever more. Dave is gonna be kind of immortal now.”
NHM researchers recently declared the 40 cm worm the largest ever discovered in the U.K., after gardener Paul Rees discovered the Lumbricus terrestris in his vegetable patch near Liverpool. Rees’ stepson was the one who named the worm “Dave.”
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After speaking with experts at NMH, Rees agreed to send his findings to Sherlock.
“I was bowled over by the size of this worm when I opened the plastic box they sent it in,” she said. “Not only was it really long, it was almost twice as heavy as any other wild earthworm ever seen, weighing the same as a small chocolate bar.”
Dave’s size was truly rare according to Sherlock, who said he registered more than three times longer and more than five times heavier than average earthworms.
“With worms this size, Paul must have an incredibly fertile and well-drained veg plot with decaying matter quickly recycled back into the soil,” she said. “Earthworms are incredibly important to keep soils healthy.”
Unfortunately Dave won’t be a part of helping Rees’ garden flourish next spring. Instead scientists hope he’ll help them understand one of earth’s most important creatures from his new glass jar home in London.