Giant Green Anemones at Low Tide in Rocky Pool
Saturday, July 18th, 2026 at 3:13:58 PM · 2026/Schoolhouse Beach Tide Pools
This close-up photograph captures two giant green anemones (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) clinging to dark, barnacle-covered rock in an intertidal tide pool, exposed during low tide. The larger anemone on the left displays its fully retracted oral disc and tentacles in a brilliant lime-green rosette, while the smaller one to the right is partially contracted, revealing its sandy, warty column encrusted with small pebbles and shell fragments — a typical camouflage behavior of this species. The gritty texture of the column body contrasts beautifully with the vivid, almost fluorescent green of the tentacle mass, created by symbiotic zoochlorellae and zooxanthellae living within the anemone's tissues. The surrounding intertidal substrate is dark volcanic or basalt rock dotted with multicolored sand grains, small pebbles, and traces of coralline algae, setting a rugged, wild, coastal mood. Shot with a long telephoto macro setup, the image isolates these fascinating cnidarians with excellent subject detail.
Chronologically Adjacent
