The colorful sea whip is a delicate treasure that can be found on the beaches after a hard blow.  The sea whip is a gorgonian, or soft coral, that grows in shallow water and on hard bottom substrate.  While most sea whips found on Outer Banks beaches are orange, sea whips (which are related to the sea fan) can be purple, red or yellow.

Sea whips range in warm water seas from Brazil to Chesapeake Bay and normally grow from 6 - 24 inches.  Over 500 species of gorgonians can be found world wide.