You never know what you might see walking along the tidepools. On a recent excursion I got lucky and spotted a California brown sea hare (Aplysia californica) in a little pool of water tucked amongst the rocks. My first sighting of one in the wild! I watched it eat for several minutes. It was easy… [read more]
What makes a green sea anemone green?
What makes a green sea anemone green? It’s not green with envy, it’s green with algae! Single-celled algae living in the tissue of this sea anemone contribute in an indirect way to its brilliant green color. Green sea anemones or Anthopleura xanthogrammica enjoy the nutritional benefits gained from hosting algae through photosynthesis. In return, algae… [read more]
Giant plumose anemone: Now you see it, now you don’t!
The first time I saw this giant plumose anemone I thought, What the heck is that? Most of the sea anemones I’ve seen have their tentacles out in all their colorful glory ready and waiting for an easy meal to swim by. So I started asking around and it turns out that sea anemones do… [read more]
Ocean fireworks in a sand-rose sea anemone
For some brilliant color, ocean sparkle and pop, look no further than the sand-rose sea anemone or Urticina columbiana. This beauty lights up the sandy ocean floor in depths of 40 to 150 feet and lives as far north as British Columbia to as far south as Baja California. The diameter of a sand-rose anemone’s… [read more]