Fireworks!

Today we have the lesser Talpids staying with us. So, we packed a picnic of ham sandwiches, biscuits, the remnants of their Easter eggs and a bag of oranges, and set of north to the Moray coast.

We spent most of the day at the splendid marine aquarium at Macduff. I was spoilt for choice when it came to deciding on my blip but settled on this photograph of fireworks anemones, largely because it is a species I had never seen before.

The firework anemone Pachycerianthus multiplicatus is a sea anemone in the family Cerianthidae found in sheltered, sub-tidal, muddy bottoms at depths of up to 130 metres. They have a stem which extends down in the mud for up to one meter and possess up to 200 tentacles which are white, or white and brown-striped in colour. The fireworks anemone is a spectacular marine invertebrate  and  the beautiful, bright tentacles really do remind you of a firework exploding in a clear night sky.


These anemones are restricted to a number of sea lochs on the west coast of Scotland. They are nationally scarce in the UK, Scottish populations represent 95% of all records and are of international and possibly global importance.

I didn't get home until midnight last night and so I have back-blipped on the theme of how to secure the dead.