About 4 years to the day later, I have possibly found the same Cerianthid anemone in the same location. I was diving with the same dive buddy, and it was he who pointed the anemone out to me (although he didn’t recall it afterwards).

My previous sighting of a Cerianthid anemone was at Second Valley on 6th January 2015. Allan Horsfall was my dive buddy. We both entered the water at the second bay and swam around the headland and back to the jetty in the first bay. As we swam along the bottom of the rocky bank along the headland, I discovered a Cerianthid anemoneĀ at the edge of the sand. I took a few photos of the specimen at the time. Those photos featured in my article titled Tube Anemone Sighting at Second Valley

When I saw this ‘second’ specimen in a similar spot, I took some video footage of it before taking this photograph: –

This ‘second’ specimen appears to be in a similar position, adjacent to a sponge. Should I manage to find the specimen again in the near future, I should try to pay more attention to its surroundings, especially the adjacent sponge.

Swirly conditions and average visibility on the day of my latest sighting did not assist my photography. This may be evident in my video footage, which can be seen atĀ https://1drv.ms/v/s!AptZwqUs2pz01Gh_AjNYhHqd6YR3

The similarity of the adjacent sponge is more evident in the video footage. If I can find the sponge again by retracing my diving ‘steps’, I should be able to find the anemone one more time.

 

By Steve Reynolds

Steve Reynolds is the current President of MLSSA and is a long-standing member of the Society. Steve was a keen diver, underwater explorer & photographer before illness struck. He is chief author of the Society's extensive back catalogue of newsletters and journals.

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