While everyone was enjoying the hospitality offered by one of the premier wildlife artists Robert Bateman at his house on Salt Spring Island, I wanted to see what I could find living under the dock at Fullford Harbor at the public wharf. The underside of the dock was teaming with life and every member of this unique ecosystem was in competition for space. These large white-plumed anemone’s (Metridium senile) seemed to take advantage of the available light by forming a large stalk which allows them to spread their tentacles in a large circle away from the dock in order to increase their surface area. They are usually white but can also occur in shades of yellow, brown, and orange. They are usually found attached to pilings or rocks at shallow depths from the lower intertidal region up to about 100 feet. They feed on small animals that become entrapped in the animal’s fine maze of tentacles and their large range extends from Catalina Island to the Polar seas.