Feather Star Crinoid

Photo: Derek Keats · CC BY

Brightly colored crinoids — red, orange, and yellow — cling to every exposed coral surface and rock crevice throughout the site, arms extended into the current to filter passing plankton. Smaller crustaceans including squat lobsters and crinoid shrimp live cryptically among their arms, visible only to divers who pause and look closely. The density of crinoids at Vase Rock gives the site a lush, garden-like quality that surprises first-time visitors expecting a simpler reef.