A sea pansy is a soft coral similar to an anemone except that it’s a colony organism made up of polyps. The biggest polyp is the peduncle, which anchors it in the sand. If you find one at low tide out of the water, the feeding polyps will be retracted and the organism will look like a plucked flower with a soft texture. in the water, however, it’s a thing of beauty.
Fun fact: they emit a bioluminescent green flash when they’re disturbed at night.
