Colorful Marine Life Of Indonesia

Vittoria Amati photographs the marine life 

around the coral reefs of Sulawesi, Indonesia

These underwater photos offer a unique 

glimpse of the sea - they have been turned

into negatives. British photographer 

Vittoria Amati, 54, transformed her photographs 

using computer software to appear 

like x-rays. Above a black-saddled sharpnose fish

The photographs taken up to 30 metres 

below the surface at the Bunaken 

Marine Park, North Sulawesi, Indonesia reveal 

creatures such as coral, fish and crabs in

stunning detail. (Star fish, Gomophia watsoni)

Vittoria accidently turned one of her underwater 

photographs into a negative and, pleased with the

transformation, decided to do the same with 

her collection of 45 images. (Banggai cardinal fish)

Vittoria, from London, said: "I stumbled 

across a negative version of one of my 

images and became really excited - they

had the power to trigger the imagination

. I was stunned, it was as if I was looking

at my photos for the first time." (Sea anemone)

"I used photo editing software to turn the

images into negatives, then worked on 

changing the colours layer by layer. 

I needed to restrain myself to keep 

the effect 'natural'. If the viewer is used

to see a coral red I turned it into blue,

making things opposite."

(A strap-weed filefish, Pseudomonacanthus macrurus)

"There was the odd problem,

" explains Vittoria, "the first time 

I went diving I forgot to take the lens off my

camera, but eventually everything 

came together." (Echinothrix calamaris)

(Red soft coral and brittlestar)

The images were taken mainly during the

day but also at night when a lot of life comes

out feeling more protected by the dark. 

(A Nembrotha species)

"Swimming with fish is incredibly pleasant,

there is an extraordinary beauty hidden under the waves.

" (Coral grouper)

"The aim is to show people how beautiful 

every marine organism is, even the tiniest. 

The sea is not only about big fish and mammals 

like whales, sharks and dolphins. The sea is an

environment very rich in biodiversity.

" (Sea urchin, Diademasavignyi)

Elegater is Sleeping

Beautyfull Fish

Hangri Filsh

Hangeri Wale

Jely Fish

Eagle Caching Fish

Eagle Caching Fish

Flying Swan

A Silent Wale

 

THE MALDIVES

 Just like Bora Bora, the Maldives is another
tropical paradise that feels like a fantasy world.
Hundreds of lush islands, lined with the whitest 
sandy beaches, and surrounded by the
bluest of water; the Malvides is a slice of heaven. 
Check out the beautiful photographs below along 
with information on the world’s lowest country with
the ‘lowest high point’ in the world. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Russia's Underwater Crystal Cave

It looks like the set of a Hollywood action movie but these images

were taken by a team of expert cave divers in the depths of Russia.

A team of daring cave divers have produced an incredible

photo-reportage of the longest underwater gypsum 

crystal cave in the world. 

The Orda Cave in the western Urals region is three mile

s of eerily dramatic natural channels created by water so
clear divers can see over 50 yards ahead of them.

A very Speedy Fish

The Smallest Aquarium

 

Russian miniaturist Anatoly Konenko engaged

 microminiature art for three decades.

He came up with its own technology

letters on rice, poppy seed, as well as

 human hair, and has recently created the

world's smallest aquarium with live fish.

This tiny tank is made of fiberglass on the  

bottom rising living algae, and fish in it too,

 very real - 5 danio rerio juveniles, whose

 size does not exceed 4 mm.

Volume mikrorezervuara - 10 ml.

That is 2 teaspoons. 06 more images after the break...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marine camouflage:

these colourful underwater

creatures are masters of disguise

These underwater creatures are masters of deception

so cleverly adapted to their environment that many

would never be found without expert knowledge.

Brandon Cole, a photographer from Washington

state on the west coast of the US, uses his

 expertise as a marine biologist to hunt for

 the almost invisible animals.

A Coleman's shrimp camouflaged among

spines of a poisonous fire sea urchin in Indonesia

"My pictures show hidden marine life blending

into the background of the reef or seabed,"

said Brandon. "They're hard to find - you don't

see them straight away. Sometimes you happen

 upon them - but many of them require a search

 pattern. For example when hunting a cowrie

snail on a soft coral you have to know it lives in

association with that particular coral. So you look

for the host and then look for a needle in a

hay stack - but you have to know which hay

 stacks to look for first."
A ridged egg cowrie snail hidden among soft coral in Indonesia

Brandon explains why these creatures take such

 trouble to remain hidden. "It has to do with

survival," he said. "They adapt to their

environment through natural selection.

Most of these animals are camouflaged

 against the background of their natural

habitat. This increases their odds of

survival so they are less likely to be f

ound by predators. Many are small and

 defenceless so rely on this trick to survive."
A leafy sea dragon in South Australia

The double-ended pipe fish not only looks like

 the sea grass it lives within but also mimics

the swaying motion of the grass as it is moved

by sea currents.
A double-ended pipefish among sea grasses in Indonesia

Brandon has travelled the world to capture

his pictures, and says: "I think a great place

to go to see mimicry in action is Lembeh Strait

in Sulawesi, Indonesia. It's an especially

critter rich habitat where lots of camouflage is present."
A bearded scorpionfish hides in a coral garden in Indonesia

Another bearded scorpionfish camouflaged against a reef in Thailand

A harlequin crab on a sea cucumber in Indonesia

A peacock flounder camouflaged on sand in Dominica

A hairy frogfish in Indonesia

An octopus camouflaged against sand near a

 sea grass bed in a shallow bay in Australia

A devil scorpionfish well camouflaged in Hawaii

A speckled sanddab in California

A crocodilefish in Indonesia