What took me so long to do a another sea post? I think I forgot the breath-taking variety and beauty in our seas. Feast your eyes and luxuriate in the wonder of these creatures. And please let me know your favorites.
First, do you think of jelly fish as gorgeous?
Spanish Dancer Jellyfish
Starburst jellies
By Joaquin Gutierrez Fernandez on flickr
White spotted Jelly
By J-Ri on flickr
By Joshua Lambus
Egg jellyfish. Some of these names are a little obvious.
By Joyce Pedersen (addict2pics) on Flickr
By randapex on flickr
Check out these Nudibranches, or Sea Slugs
Black and Gold Sapsucking Slug, Cyerce nigricans
By Nick Hobgood
by acqua e luce on flickr
By Greg Piper
By Allen Lee(houpc) on flickr
By Digidiverdave on flickr
By Stan Bysshe
By Jfherve
Can you believe these were all different versions of the seaslug?
I think it’s an octopus. Or squid?
By DaisyHillCuttleFarm
Feather star by Daryl Glass
By murphy.laurence on flickr, blue ringed octopus with a deadly bite.
heart feather duster, by courtneyplatt on flickr
A juvenile pinnate spadefish
Blenny
Blue lipstick
Sailfin Tang by Melissa Fiene
Mandarin fish
by Christian Skauge The free-swimming hydromedusae Gonionemus murbachii. location, Norwegian Sea Norway
By tredhead on flickr, seahorse
Leafy Sea dragon
Leafy Sea Dragon via National Geographic
Soft coral
Soft coral
zoanthid
Bouquet of sea squirts, by Nick Hobgood on flickr
From Daily Telegraph, UK
By Ari Lynn Day on Flickr, starfish
Icon starfish by Mark Atwell flickr
Red Feather Starfish by Mark Laita
By lndr on flickr, Leander Wiseman
Firefly squid on a Japanese beach
The Firefly Squid is a bioluminescent squid growing to a length of only three inches. It is equipped with special light-producing organs called photophores that emit a deep blue light. Large photophores can be found on the tips of the tentacles as well as around the eyes. Thousands of tiny photophores can be found throughout the squid’s body, giving it the ability to emit light along its entire form.
One firefly squid.by Dante Fenollo
In the Toyama Bay, in the central Japan Sea, the squid are found in fantastic abundance. Normally living at 1200 feet underwater, waves in the Toyama bay push the squid to the surface in massive numbers where they are fished from March to June.
Cymbol bubble snail by Okinawa Nature Photography
Zebra striped anenome by Nick Hobgood on flickr
Salp chain by by Davichin
Salps are tunicates that swim by jet propulsion, taking in water through a siphon at one end of their bodies and expelling it at the other. Four-inch (10.2-centimeter) salps link together to make luminous chains up to fifteen feet (4.6 meters) long!
Another salp chain.
The bristle-like appendage of an amphipod—a type of marine crustacean. The bristles serve as a sort of fishing net for plankton.
White tentacle Japanese Aeolis.
Ping pong tree sponge from Mariana’s trench
Fish swim in schools to appear larger to their predators.
By R. Dirscherl/Photoshot/Solent
School of fish makes way for sharks. Maldives Islands
For more sea images and information, go to: Seaslugs, or Sea Dragons, or Sea Horses, or Sea Stars or the weird frogfish. Info about the sea horses is especially fascinating, if you haven’t read it.
Thanks to: Sam Pryor on Pinterest, an article by Kaushik on amusing planet, and to all the diving photographers who took these amazing pictures and whose identity I could not find.
I have always loved octapi (?), and this outdoes anything I could have imagined! Nature is brilliant in so many ways, and if we humans don’t screw it up, may it continue forever.
The other wonder are seahorses—have you done these, Dusky? The moment of birth from the male “stomach” is miraculous!
thanks again for opening our eyes, Dusky! Lorie
Mother Nature’s palette is more awesome than anything artists could imagine! Loved all of these!
Rose
Fantastic !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is impossible to select any single image as the best-All are very
beautiful-!!!
Again you have compiled beauty for all of us to admire…thank you so much for the pure joy and “wonderland” you create. You are the BEST!
YOU OUT DID YOUR SELF. YOUR POSTING ARE ALWAYS SUCH A PLEASANT SURPRISE.
What a treat as we have our first snowfall. You inspire us to dust off our old Nikonoses instead of using point and shoot digitals as we did last dive vacation!! Many thanks.
Dusky–these are spectacular–I almost couldn’t believe the colors are real and untouched. Just amazing and open my heart to all the mysteries of things and colors…thank you so much…
They’re all spectacular in color and shapes. Most difficult to pick a favorite.
Beautiful I am not able to describe my joy and happiness. I thank those guys who made such a big effort to show us the world under the water.
Beautiful photos. Those creatures are magnificent . I have had several aquariums , most of them were salt water. you never get tired of looking into them. Great work, thanks.
To me, if I never got another e_mail, this would be the one I would really miss. You capture all the beauty on our planet
As a transplant from the midwest, I’m so pleased to live so close to the ocean. When I sit on ocean bluffs, I’ve always been in awe thinking of the life forms below the surface.
Thanks once more, Dusky.
Totally amazing !!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so must
Fabulous,riot of colors,and and the forms are amazing. One wonders How HE has time devoted to each of them to shape, color and imbued them with the strength to with stand the huge water pressure under sea.It is mind boggling and thanks to you for sharing and the credit goes to underwater photographers to have done an exceptional photography.
Again Dusky you find some of the most beautiful stuff. Im currently working on a bathroom that the walls are a photo mural of under the see or perhaps on a reef some where. So these pictures are so perfect as to what Im working on as well. Thanks again for this wonder. Tim
i signed up to receive new wonders by e-mail a couple of weeks ago…as of yet i’ve received nothing, should i be worried?
No Sam. I haven’t put up any posts since sealife. And I might not until the holidays but I appreciate your interest.
I just love ,love,love everything I have watched. all of them are just so wonderful ..Hope to see many more ..Birds are my very favorite mjc.
Amazing!
What can I add to all the thanks and expressions of wonder at the beauty of nature?
Please continue to give us the joy of admiring it.
To swim among such beautiful creatures would be breathtaking.
Hi! First off, beautiful post! I am in awe of the variety and color found in sea creatures, and what lovely photos you chose to represent this. I just wanted to mention that the photo of the “leafy sea dragon” is really an artwork, and not a real leafy sea dragon. Notice the two diver silhouettes in her belly? Really leafy sea dragon are only bout 18 inches long and do not eat people. Probably confusing coming from National Geographic.
Karen,
I must say, I don’t know what to make of that image of the leafy sea dragon. I see the divers which certainly aren’t in the belly of the animal. I can only imagine that I was mistaken that I got that image from National Geographic. I totally trust them with presenting real images–and being able to identify anything photoshopped or painted. Maybe the image above was the one from Nat’l Geo. and I got mixed up. Anyway, good spotting–thanks. I’m stumped.
What a fantastic selection!!! 🙂
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Natures performance is so much better than a human imagination can provide for us.
The most beautiful creations that God made for us, I could never pick a favorite among them..they are all breathtaking…if I had a favorite it would be the seahorse on the white coral.
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WOW !!!!!! I really can’t get much more out….. What a wonderful creator we have !!!!! WOW. !!!!!!!!!
Please see http://www.snopes.com/spanish-dancer-jellyfish/. The spanish dancer jellyfish is a very beautiful piece of digital artwork. Whether meant to deceive or not, I couldn’t say, but definitely not real!
You have posted a lot of astonishing photos here. Thanks.
Lynette, Thanks for catching this. As you say, there are plenty of real life amazing creatures.
Hi! I am painting a 60 foot very detailed mural of a coral reef for a children’s library, and I cannot tell you the wonder and inspiration I received from these. I look at photos of coral, fish, and reef creatures all day long, for months and these are just outstanding. Thank you so much.