The expression ‘fruit of the sea’ is usually a term used for the animals of the ocean such fishes, crustaceans and molluscs. There are in fact ‘real’ fruits of the ocean and the sea grass meadows of the coastal shallows are one place you can find them.

The predominant seagrass of the Rapid Bay area is Posidonia sinuosa, and now with the warming water they are beginning to fruit.

The fruit of Posidonia sinuosa is actually quite pleasant to eat although I have never eaten enough of them to comment on their toxicity. Once you peel back the outer green husk there is a firmer green nut-like body inside which is not at all salty as might be expected and tastes something like a cross between a pumpkin seed and a pine nut.

Fruit from Posidonia sinuos might not be the beginning of a new food industry but seagrass meadows play an incredibly important role in providing our ‘fruit of the sea’ as a nursery habitat for many important commercial fish species.

Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Day 704, Fruit of the Sea’, 1/100 f/5.0 ISO100 15mm