The weird, the scary and the strange

[Shadowkiller]

Despite the topic heading, I'm not talking about Sven's toilet habits...

Whilst fish are the obvious wildlife in the ocean, there is a lot of weird stuff out there, and a lot of its pretty small.

So armed with my macro settings I went out to find some of that "freaky shit".

A good place to start is the nearest good size rock. Many animals shelter beneath rocks, so after having a look make sure you flip it back over!

First pic is of a Eunice Polychaete worm. This one was roughly 1.5cm thick, and about 50cm long.

It moved at quite a speed, so I was unabe to use the super macro on my Olympus, but the macro at full zoom did ok.

[Shadowkiller]

Nudibranchs are a lot slower, so the supermacro comes into its own.

Below is a Ceratosoma brevicaudatum, a fairly common seaslug for this area. I assume it was travelling between feeding sites, since it is a carnivore, and doesnt feed on plants.

[Shadowkiller]

The next nudibrach is Bennets Hypsolodoris, shot with the macro on full zoom. This one was a bit deep (10m) and on the dark side of a dropoff, so I couldnt use the supermacro lens. I will get a strobe one of these days...

[Shadowkiller]

The last one has me stumped.

It could either be a Echiuran, or a Sipunculan, most likely a nemertan.

Anyone care to guess?

It creeped me out, whatever it was..

[tylerz]

Hey great job Shadow! I love this stuff. Macro life is so diverse and overlooked...

Keep up the good work!

Cheers,

Tyler

[Fondueset]

When it comes to life forms. Beautiful shots.

Marine invertebrates are like surreal denizens of the subconscious

[Adrian]

Uh...what planet did you take those shots on?

Very nice!

Adrian

[Paul Kotik]

I'm not going to be the one to tell it, but perhaps somebody else will tell the story of Brett Lemaster and the sea cucumbers.

[Shadowkiller]

Originally posted by Adrian
Uh...what planet did you take those shots on?

Sometimes, when I'm down there... Im really not sure. But no matter what strange sight I see, I always feel sorry for those who never bother to look.

Those poor landlocked people, who will never soar beneath the waves...

[Adrian]

Anyone care to guess?

Are you sure it's just one? It looks like two joined together - could be mating?

Adrian

[Oldsarge]

Wow! And the dumb system won't let me give you any more karma. Damn!

[Cingene]

the last one looks like the remains of Uncle Sven's socks (poor Uncle Sven getting dissed again)..

[Amphibious]

Simply Stunning! You're making me homesick!

[Frank O'Donnell]

Great shots, Shadowkiller! I find macro photography while freediving interesting and challenging.

Is my assumption correct that you were just using the camera's built-in macro mode and zooming, as opposed to an add-on macro lens?

[Pezman]

I love the 5050s macro mode. Here's a picture of a mantis that I snapped a few days ago for the kids.

Not in the same league as these other shots, but definitely weird, scary and strange.