RARE IMAGES by a UK photographer show the alien-like critters that make their life sixty-five feet below the ocean’s surface.
One image from Mexico shows an Atlanta Heteropod also known as a sea elephant taken at about 65 feet below the surface, while an adorable image shows a beautiful Rainbow Tripodfish.
A stunning shot shows the unique transparent Oxycephalus Amphipod on a hydromedusa taken at about 60 feet.
These images were taken by underwater photographer Robert Stansfield (43) from Southampton UK, Robert spends about 90 minutes in the water to get the best of these unusual beings.
Robert captured the marine life on his Nikon D500 in a Nauticam Housing supplied by Underwater Visions in Bournemouth UK while in the open ocean surrounding Cozumel, Mexico.
“These images were taken on the Cozumel Blackwater dive. After sunset we travel out in the open ocean around the island of Cozumel Mexico we then throw in a free floating lighting array with light evenly spaced from the surface down to 65 feet,” said Robert.
“We then dive around the lights and see what life is attracted to.
“The blackwater dives never fail to amaze me with the crazy alien-like life forms that drift past out in the open ocean well away from a reef. Every dive there is something new.
“The idea of the dive is to see the largest biomass migration on the planet. Every night a huge volume of life migrates up from the mesopelagic zone up to the epipelagic.
“This night time migration gives us the opportunity to see life at the surface that normal lives well beyond recreational diving depths.
“The pink Atlanta Hetropod is one of my favourites and the comb jelly digesting the amphipods are the top spot as they are just so alien.
“Each dive is a totally new experience. It’s never the same. The photos help me try and understand what we are seeing.
“The reaction has been incredible. The reaction is normally wow, what is that? How deep were you?
“It’s one of the most challenging types of photography I’ve found.
“The challenge really pushes me to take better and better photos.”
ENDS
