Puget Sound abounds in creatures both beautiful and superbly camouflaged. In places like Padilla Bay the waving strands of thin leaved, bright green eel grass hide many amazing creatures. One especially worth seeking out is the Eelgrass Sea Slug.

This little relative of the slugs in your garden is usually under two inches long. It spends its year of life on eelgrass blades wider than itself. Black lined white or yellow stripes decorate the Eelgrass Sea Slug's emerald green body — a vivid design but great for hiding on eel grass leaves. This fancy creature glides along the blades grazing algae and minute sponges growing there.

On their heads, sea slugs have 2 pairs of tentacles they use to smell and touch. Their eyes seem only able to distinguish light from dark — useful for an animal needing to stay well hidden from big predators and from the hot sun at low tide.

The slug's yellowish egg masses lying flat on eelgrass blades are difficult to find. Camouflaged even better than the animal itself, these well hidden eggs ensure the survival of this beautiful little inhabitant of Puget Sound.