© Yung Sen Wu, Keelung, Taiwan
Rhinopias is a type of scorpionfish fish that doesn’t move often and stays in place waiting for food. It was hiding under a red sea fan and it looked like it was on fire. It was very beautiful and gorgeous. I used a snoot on the flash to shoot this photo.
© Keigo Kawamura, Shizuoka, Japan
I am a diving guide in Izu, Japan. Unicorn shrimp are usually distributed at depths of between 200 and 300 meters but will lay their eggs at a depth of up to 40 meters. The number of shrimp varies from year to year, but it ranges from hundreds to tens of thousands. They do not like bright places so they usually hide in rock shadows, but in years where there are many of them they cover the ocean floor since there is a lack of rock shadows. I cropped this photo to show a beautiful alignment of shrimp.
© Seishi Nakano, Kumamoto, Japan
A chrysaora pacifica and small fish. In the early morning of a winter day, while wearing a dry suit and holding the camera as usual, I scuba dived leisurely in the sea. I usually dive with a macro lens attached. The ocean had been very beautiful for the past few days and deep-sea fish and deep-sea creatures appeared due to up-welling so I expected to see something so I went in to the ocean with a wide angle lens. On this day I was able to see many unique creatures that I can not usually see but the encounter with this jellyfish was especially interesting. A lot of small fish were around the jellyfish and I took many photos of it. I was excited to cross paths with another chrysaora pacifica.
© Mana Nomoto, Ogasawara, Japan
It has been 26 years since I first swam with dolphins in the beautiful sea of Bonin Blue. Bonin Blue is a special word used to describe the color of the ocean around Ogasawara. I still swim with dolphins whenever I have the chance. I never get tired of it and I could continue swimming with dolphins for another five or ten years capturing them with my camera. One day in the spring when I was on one of my daily dives I met a pod of baby dolphins. My eyes met with the sweet eyes of a baby dolphin whose body was still white. It was as if its lovely eyes were inviting me into the sea.
© Daisuke Kurashima, Kanagawa, Japan
Baa Atoll in the Maldives is a famous place for the hordes of mantas that visit to feed on plankton.On this day I encountered a group of mantas much larger than I had expected. From the way they were swim-ming, it seems that they were not at all worried about the presence of humans. A group of mantas were spiraling up-ward and I was able to capture the mo-ment the leader of the group reached the surface flipped his body over and dove back down. This photo truly expresses the mantas’ suppleness and strength.
© Jim Chen, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Dugongs eat algae at the bottom of the sea. Dugongs have nostrils on their snouts. These nostrils have special valves that are closed under the water surface and open when they return to the water surface to breath. Dugongs may remain under water for around 6 minutes.
© Ankit Kumar, Singapore
A school of yellow fusilier fish swam around the camera, encompassing me in a living wave. I had just started taking underwater photos, and I was looking for scenes that cap-ture the essence of diving for me, when I noticed this school of fish swimming with the current a bit further down the reef from me. I positioned myself in their path, and waited for the current to bring them closer. I was hoping that they would swim around me and create a tunnel effect so I could take a photo. When they approached, I angled myself so that I would take up less space and aimed my camera directly into the school. I was absolutely ecstatic when the wave broke into a tunnel, and swam around me. This photo was taken in the Malé atoll in the Maldives, which is one of the countries that is most threatened by rising sea levels (as a result of global warming).
© Ankit Kumar, Singapore
A green turtle swims by the camera, showing off the unique pattern on the side of his face and shell. I had just started using my underwater camera, when I began my PADI Sea Turtle Identification specialization course. The course is geared towards the protection and conservation of sea turtles by taking photos of the side of a sea turtle’s face. This pattern is unique to an individual, similar to how each person’s thumbprint is unique to them. By keeping track of all of the turtles in the reef, it is possible to know what turtles are unhealthy or at risk so they can take measures to protect them. During the dive, we were supposed to swim close enough to a turtle to capture the pattern on their face, and record it for later. This photo shows the turtle’s face clearly and the health of the turtle can be assessed from the body. This photo was taken in Malé atoll in the Maldives.
© Toru Kasuya, Kanagawa, Japan
© Vania Kam, Hong Kong
© Mitsuru Tomiya, Osaka, Japan
© Dragos Dumitrescu, Philippines
© Liang Fu, Beijing, China
© Mitsuru Tomiya, Osaka, Japan