'I thought I’d choose something that floats, Because soon we’ll all be needing boats'

I thought I’d choose something that floats

Because soon we’ll all be needing boats

But this lives in the ocean

And moves with the motion

While covered in a bubbly coat

What on earth am I?

I’m a Swimming Anemone. Also known as a Brain or Beach Ball Anemone for very obvious reasons.

The first time I found one of these lovely, bubbly, squishy anemones I definitely had a big ‘what on earth’ moment. I mean, it didn’t look like an anemone, and it wasn’t attached to the rock ledge like you might see with, say, the bright red Waratah Anemones that are common around the Illawarra. Instead this creature was attached to some weed and just floated and moved with the motion of the tide.

Upon gently turning it over, I found the recognisable anemone tentacles that were curled up inside it. You see, these animals are nocturnal. At night, they unfurl and their tentacles reach out to grab zooplankton and anything else small enough that might stumble into its sticky clutches.

The name is a little misleading as they don’t swim as such. Not like I swim, with much splashing, not a lot of actual progress made, but with a definite destination in mind. Rather, they take advantage of the movement of the ocean and roll about attaching to sea grass which makes for a perfect spot to set themselves up ready for a night of feeding.

You can spot these balls of brightly coloured baked beans in the region’s rock pools. They’re native to Australia and New Zealand and come in various colours, reds and greens and oranges and purples and lighter tones also, think: browns and greys. They’re a very spectacular sight! Its for size, I’ve seen teeny little blobs only a couple of centremetres in length and huge larger than hand sized creatures. If you find a rock pool with a lot of weed, you might be in luck with finding one of these lovelies.

If you’ve found something that has made you ask, ‘What on Earth is that?' please get in touch. We’d love to share your find.