Welcome to Finn's Photos, a site made to showcase my macro photos, both above water and underwater.
Sessile animals
Sessile animals are animals which are unable to move, and are permanently attached to an object. This page will show you the sheer beauty of underwater sessile animals.
The Spiny Fan Mussel
This curious creature lives embedded in the sea floor and inside rocks, it opens up to pull water through it in order to feed but, if it feels threatened, it will close up, protecting itself from predators. As weird as these creatures look, there is also something very beautiful about them perfectly shown with macro photography.
Sponges
These sessile animals usually grow on rocks, and they used to harvested to be used as sponges. Divers used to go down and cut them off rocks, before processing and selling them. Now we just admire them and their strange but cool appearance.
Tube Worms
Perhaps one of the most common sessile animals, as shown by how many pictures I have of them, the tube worm never ceases to amaze me by its striking beauty. These creatures usually grow on rocks, and consist of a white tube and a brightly coloured worm which lives in it. They will hang out of the tube, their tentacles drifting in the waves, which makes for amazing pictures. But, if threatened, they will retract back into their tube and hide away until they decide its safe again.
The Mediterranean Tube Anemone
This creature functions in a very similar way to tube worms, hanging out of its tube, but hiding when it feels threatened. The main difference, other than their appearance, is that they usually grow in sand, as opposed to being attached to rocks.
The Feathered Sea Star
This creature may look deceptively plant-like, but it is in fact a Starfish. Unlike normal starfish it is sessile, meaning it doesn't move, but it is nonetheless a creature of great beauty.
The Red Sea Squirt
These strange animals are very hard to spot, shown by my lack of pictures of them. They live on rocks, sucking water through themselves in order to feed. Sometimes you can find them in pairs, but usually alone, like in the image below.
A much bigger Anemone
The Anemone in the image below is a gorgeous, yet slightly creepy sessile animal. I spotted this one at the entrance to a small cave at around 25 meters deep. At that depth most of the colours of the surrounding rocks are gone but, through the use of a flash, I have regained most of those colours, producing some stunning images.