Something’s Fishy! Dive into the mysteries of the deep blue sea

Underwater photography is an art unlike any other. The five winners from Scuba Diving's 2022 Underwater Photo Contest reveal the mesmerising beauty that lies below the water

FP Staff September 26, 2022 19:30:19 IST
This photo was taken in the Mediterranean Sea, near Bacoli, which is located on the Gulf of Naples in Italy. A closer look at this jellyfish — Rhizostoma pulmo — known commonly as the barrel jellyfish, showed that there were crabs riding along with it. Image Courtesy: Salvatore Ianniello
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This photo was taken in the Mediterranean Sea, near Bacoli, which is located on the Gulf of Naples in Italy. A closer look at this jellyfish — Rhizostoma pulmo — known commonly as the barrel jellyfish, showed that there were crabs riding along with it. Image Courtesy: Salvatore Ianniello
This image was taken in Eastern Greenland during an ice diving expedition. The photographer said, “As I got down under the ice on the first dive and my eyes started to adjust to the darkness, I was shocked that the whale carcass was so intact and huge. Anna, my friend, started diving around the whale bones, so I placed my external lift farther away to get some depth.” Image Courtesy: Alex Dawson
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This image was taken in Eastern Greenland during an ice diving expedition. The photographer said, “As I got down under the ice on the first dive and my eyes started to adjust to the darkness, I was shocked that the whale carcass was so intact and huge. Anna, my friend, started diving around the whale bones, so I placed my external lift farther away to get some depth.” Image Courtesy: Alex Dawson
We spotted several flying fish from the boat in the flat-calm surface, and it didn’t take long to find them once we were in the water. I spent a few minutes shooting before I eventually found a good position for my focus light and strobes that compensated for the issues I was having maintaining buoyancy and stability just below the surface. Image Courtesy: Boz Johnson
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We spotted several flying fish from the boat in the flat-calm surface, and it didn’t take long to find them once we were in the water. I spent a few minutes shooting before I eventually found a good position for my focus light and strobes that compensated for the issues I was having maintaining buoyancy and stability just below the surface. Image Courtesy: Boz Johnson
During a night dive off Réunion Island, I noticed a huge Spanish dancer nudibranch. Observing its gills—oh surprise—I saw a small shrimp! It turned out to be an emperor shrimp that was hidden in the gills. The shrimp was shy, so it took a little patience to photograph it. Image Courtesy: Miguel Ramirez
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During a night dive off Réunion Island, I noticed a huge Spanish dancer nudibranch. Observing its gills—oh surprise—I saw a small shrimp! It turned out to be an emperor shrimp that was hidden in the gills. The shrimp was shy, so it took a little patience to photograph it. Image Courtesy: Miguel Ramirez
I found this tiny beauty while on a dive trip in Alotau, Papua New Guinea. It’s a butterfly sea slug (Cyerce nigra). It “stands” on the algae and scans the molecular composition of water. The creature’s body is only 15 mm long. I had to use a close-up wet lens in order to get closer to the model. The background wasn’t nice, but I saw a leaf on the seabed and put it behind the animal to make the picture more pleasing to the eye. Image Courtesy: Yury Ivanov
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I found this tiny beauty while on a dive trip in Alotau, Papua New Guinea. It’s a butterfly sea slug (Cyerce nigra). It “stands” on the algae and scans the molecular composition of water. The creature’s body is only 15 mm long. I had to use a close-up wet lens in order to get closer to the model. The background wasn’t nice, but I saw a leaf on the seabed and put it behind the animal to make the picture more pleasing to the eye. Image Courtesy: Yury Ivanov