Sea anemones are animals, carnivores that can move around after their prey. Most stay fairly stationary, but they can actually walk about on suction-cup platforms. There are many anemones in the Salish Sea, but this one is one of the most impressive. Mostly solitary creatures, they still spend their lives congregating in prime locations such as rocky reefs and tide pools with mussel beds, a prime food for them. Think “Food Court”, where anemones can also dine on crabs small fish and sea urchins. This is a big creature a foot wide, waving big stinging tentacles in search of food that gets too close – for stinging other predators when they attack.

This animal has a symbiotic or mutual relationship with algae that lives in its tissues and creates that beautiful green color. So, the animal isn’t green, the algae is. We all enjoy tidepooling after getting the boat anchored for the night, and this anemone could be a prize worth finding along the rocky low tide trek – but leave it be. Tread lightly on your explorations because this is one of the creatures most effected and currently being loved to death by heavy-footed and swift-fingered visitors. Take a photo, not the anemone.

Larry Eifert paints and sails the Pacific Northwest from Port Townsend. His large-scale murals can be seen in many national parks across America, and at larryeifert.com.