Monsters of the deep

Marine biologist Alexander Semenov spent two years in the hostile environment at the ultra-remote White Sea Biological Station to create his bizarre collection of images.

True blue: A Polychaete marine worm that is made up of segments and displays a startling blue flash

♦

The lead undetwater photographer breaks through  arctic sea ice dropping into -2degree water from a -30 degree world above.
He has documented striking differences between these species who have evolved cut off from their cousins that live in warmer waters elsewhere in the world.
Mr Semenov said the marine fauna of this cold sea bears no resemblance to anything he has seen before.
‘It’s a unique place for marine biologists,’ he said.
‘When I went underwater for the first time I was absolutely shocked. White Sea showed me another world with it’s own aliens, and some of them were really amazing creatures.’

 

Included in his works are the bright pink skeleton shrimp, the weird sea angel, and the odd sea butterfly – a type of snail that spins a web to capture small creatures.
‘Most of these creatures are known and seen only by a few specialists and marine biologist,’ Mr Semenov said.
‘They all live in cold seas in remote regions inside the Arctic circle.
‘These are hard places to reach for most divers – under ice in low temperatures.
‘Some of these creatures are so small divers just can’t notice them and see them with the naked eye.’
The White Sea, where these pictures were taken, is one of the most remote and untouched places left on Earth.
Located in the north east Atlantic Ocean it is twice the size of Denmark and is only recently being explored by divers attracted by it’s crystal clear waters that allow divers to see an astonishing 40 metres underwater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dailymail]