Large Star Coral

STATION D:  Wow; look at all the animal polyps in this Large Star Coral (Montastrea cavernosa)!  There must be a hundred of them!  Boy, you really can see why you shouldn't stand on coral.  It's alive with little, soft-bodied polyps.  Wouldn't they be badly hurt if a big swim fin came down on them?!  SOS means "Stand On Sand," not coral!

Carrie Stengel

 

In a little deeper water, at Station E, you'll see something strange. It's orangish, skinny, maybe a foot tall, and there seems to be a group of them attached to the seafloor. The gentle seawater movement is moving them back and forth. What are they?