Plumose Anemone

Photo: Tony Gilbert · CC BY-NC

The vertical walls below Fair Head are carpeted in towering white and orange plumose anemones reaching 30 cm tall, their feathery crowns extended fully in the persistent current to filter passing plankton. These colonial filter feeders are the defining organism of the site, creating a ghost-forest effect in low-visibility winter conditions. In summer, when visibility clears, they glow brilliantly in torch light against the dark dolerite columns.