BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 22, 2026
Sea anemones evolved more than 500 million years ago, making them among the earliest animals on Earth. I didn’t know that they lived along the coast of Maine until I was an adult and learned more about tidepools: saltwater pools that form between high and low tide. The Gulf of Maine is home to several anemone species, each with a slightly different appearance. There’s the frilled anemone, burrowing anemone, ghost anemone, striped anemone, silver-spotted anemone and northern red anemone. They’re certainly not as abundant as other tidepool creatures such as barnacles, periwinkles, dogwhelks, limpets and crabs. Nevertheless, in recent years, I’ve stumbled across a number of locations where anemones seem to thrive.