Welcome to Finn's Photos, a site made to showcase my macro photos, both above water and underwater.
Underwater life
This page will show you the diversity and magnificence of the underwater world, showing many different underwater animals you can find in the Mediterranean sea.
Lion Fish
Once a very rare sight but now one of the most common, the Lion Fish is an alien species that comes from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal. It has very few predators in the Mediterranean, combine that with being able to reproduce very quickly, and you get this highly invasive species. Even though it has become very common, it is still a sight to behold, from its unique stripes to the needle like spines responsible for making it one of the most poisonous fish in the world. The lion fish is a true spectacle of nature.
The Black Striped Blenny
These cute little creatures like to hide both in rocks and on top of them. They have a small crown on their head, and a long black stripe along their whole body, giving them their name and making them very recognizable. These small Blennies like to sit still and will often hide away when they feel threatened.
The Scorpion Fish
A relative of the Lion Fish, but this time native to the Mediterranean and a lot smaller. These spiny fish are often very pretty colours, but most people don't realise this as the colour red is quickly absorbed by the water making these fish appear brown. Through the use of a strobe or flash I have filled in the colours, but a dive light works just as well if you want to see it for yourself.
Hermit Crabs
These common, yet fantastic creatures are usually very small, the body of the crab itself usually only being the size of your fingernail. However, at greater depths, you can find them getting to quite a large size; at depths of around 30m I have seen them as big as my hand.
The Flabellina
The Flabellina is a species of nudibranch, recognizable by their intense, gorgeous purple colour. Often found living on small sessile animals, on the sea floor, or on rocks. Something that sets these apart from other nudibranchs, other than their larger size (although not as large as the Giant Doris) is that they ingest stinging cells, which then make their way to the tips of their tentacle-like parts, making Flabellinas able to sting predators.
The Long Spine Sea Urchin
Another invasive species from the Red Sea, the Long Spine Sea Urchin is a freaky-looking creature. They look very similar to the normal Urchins, except dramatically bigger and with 5 distinctive white spots on them. Much like the Lion Fish, these are now very common, however this hardly detracts from their incredible look.
The Painted Comber
This gorgeous, striped, pearly fish is an interesting one. It likes to swim about in the sea grass, embedding itself deep in the blades of grass where it is perfectly camouflaged when made to feel threatened, but it will also often look you dead in the eyes, as if guarding territory.
The Mediterranean Moray Eel
The Mediterranean Moray is a predator to most aquatic life, with its needle-like teeth, extremely wide mouth and breath-taking speed, it comfortably preys upon most creatures. This series of images is of a huge Moray found at around 30m deep, which had a diameter of close to 20cm and length of at least 1.5m, it really was a sight to behold.
The Common Octopus
This is the more common of the Octopus found in the Mediterranean, with the less common one being the White Spotted Octopus, which is mostly seen at night. This super-intelligent creature is usually found hiding in holes during the day, but I was lucky enough to find this one initially hiding, then see it moving into a new hole, catching it in the open for a few magical seconds, and seeing the curious way it flows about the sea. These are incredible creatures.
The Lizard Fish
This long and thin fish likes to bury itself in the sand, hiding away from predators. But it keeps its eyes and mouth out of the sand, keeping watch of what's going on around it. This makes for some pretty cool pictures, that also do a good job of showing how good this fish is at camouflaging itself.
Fire Worms
These somewhat grotesque-looking creatures are also quite beautiful, as under illumination they become very brightly coloured. They also make for perfect macro subjects as they move very slowly and are often sitting still on the bottom of the sea.
Puffer Fish
These smiley little fish are usually found in larger sandy areas. They are quite well camouflaged, so can be a little harder to notice, but their movements will definitely catch your eye. You can also usually attract them over to you, and play with them by picking up some sand and dropping it in the water, which they will come over to investigate. Like the name suggests, these fish can inflate themselves with water. They do this in an attempt to ward off predators, however this is an absolute last resort as they can only usually inflate 3 times in their life before it kills them due to the strain of it.