UnderWater Part I

Clownfish and Bubble-Tipped Anemone

Bleached by high water temperatures, this bubble-tipped anemone is largely devoid of the algae that provide color as well as energy from photosynthesis. Though stressed, it will likely survive and continue to serve its clownfish.

Reef Manta Ray, Bali

A reef manta ray dwarfs a researcher in the waters off of Nusa Penida, near Bali.

"On one special day we encountered dozens of reef manta rays feeding at the surface in Nusa Penida," Marine Megafauna Foundation cofounder and National Geographic explorer Andrea Marshall says. "When these giant animals feed they are distracted, and snorkelers can approach them quite closely without disturbing them. It is almost like they go into a trance.

"This individual spent about a half an hour with us, in quite shallow water, weaving in and out between us while feeding on densely concentrated plankton in the surface waters," she says. "As it approached me it reared up a bit and flashed its ventral surface (belly) at me, giving me a glimpse of its natural spot patterning on its underside, which we use to identify between different rays."

Marshall and her team recently created Manta Matcher, an automated online manta ray database. It "stores the patterning of each manta ray sighted across the world and automatically checks for a match every time a new entry is uploaded," Marshall says. "This system will allow researchers to follow the lives of these elusive animals and learn more about their movements and behavior over time."

Crabeater Seal

"Crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophagus) are one of the most curious animals I was fortunate to work with. When the gulf waters freeze over during the Antarctic winter, they hunt for the krill that lives underneath the ice surface. These curious and happy seals gather around airholes, which they use to take in air after hunting or playing underwater. Scuba diving in a place like that is a wonderful and exciting adventure."

Mediterranean Sea

Feel the sea, the silence, the blue, the liberty. Mediterranean Sea, Minorca.

Mosaic Jellyfish

A mosaic jellyfish floats serenely in the waters of the Coral Sea, about 100 nautical miles from Cairns, Australia. Jellyfish are ubiquitous in the Earth’s oceans. They can thrive in warm water and cold, along coastlines or out in the deep. Their bodies are about 95 percent water. And though they have no brains, jellyfish have somehow been smart enough to survive for over 500 million years.

Orda Cave, Russia

A diver swims through Orda Cave in Russia.

Pink Anemonefish

This is a photo of a "family" of pink anemonefish in and around their host anemone. If you look closely you can also see the small anemone shrimp (tiny white eyes) in and around the anemone.