The Animal Flower Cave is located under the cliffs at North Point, St. Lucy,

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

. It is the island's lone accessible

sea cave A sea cave, also known as a littoral cave, is a type of cave formed primarily by the wave action of the sea. The primary process involved is erosion. Sea caves are found throughout the world, actively forming along present coastlines and as relic ...

. It was discovered by its seaward entrance in 1780 by two English

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

s. The cave stands six feet above the high water mark although it was formed at sea level. This has occurred because Barbados is rising at 1 inch per 1000 years. There are

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

steps which lead down through an opening in the roof (former blowhole) into the cave, these steps were built in 1912. Inside the cave, still found are some sea anemones, which are locally called animal flowers, whence the cave obtained its name.

Sea Anemone

The flower consists of

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work ma ...

s that can sting and paralyze a passing

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

in the larger variety of species. The tentacles retract into the stalk or stump for safety on contact with an alien object like a stick. The flower then waits a while before coming out of the stalk again to allow danger to pass.

Cave's floor

The cave has a coral floor which is estimated to be about 400,000 to 500,000 years old. Whereas the younger coral section above the main floor is about 126,000 years old. This dating was carried out by the German Geological Institute. The swimming pool, as the guides call it, is in a chamber all by itself. The transparent and still water does not reveal its depth but looks deceptively shallow. The smooth floor of the cave, worn down by the water and the rubbing action of the coral rocks over time, has an undulating formation and the light lends a "magical quality" to this chamber. At certain times of the year and in bad weather, the caverns become filled with water and the entrance acts like a giant blowhole. On calm days it is possible to swim in the natural

rock pool A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only at low tide. Many tide pool habitats are home to especially adaptable animals that ...

s in the cave or to view the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

through the windows to the ocean (cave openings).

References

External links

The Animal Flower Cave
Fun Barbados (archived 2011) Caves of Barbados Saint Lucy, Barbados Sea caves {{Barbados-geo-stub