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Science

Underwater Footage Captures a Graceful Whale Shark Swimming Through the Gulf of Thailand

Underwater footage from a dive off the coast of KoTao opens on the spotted body of a whale shark. Documented by a small team from Aquatic Images on two excursions, the giant, slow-moving creature is shown gliding gracefully through the Gulf of Thailand with what appears to be dozens of remora, or suckerfish, tagging along for the ride—these smaller swimmers tend to clean bacteria and parasites from their host in exchange for food and easy travel.

Whale sharks are currently the largest living fish species, and similar to flamingos, they’re filter-feeders, although they utilize a cross-flow method that involves water passing by the filter toward the back of the throat rather than through it. Their distinctive spots are also unique to each specimen, meaning that like human fingerprints, no two patterns are the same.

This is the second time in recent years that Aquatic Images has encountered the “gentle giant,” and you can find more of its undersea footage on YouTube. (via The Kids Should See This)

Science

Scientists Discover a New Psychedelic Fish Species with Brilliant Rainbow Scales

All images © Yi-Kai Tea, courtesy of California Academy of Sciences, shared with permission

Scientists off the coast of the Maldives uncovered a new fish species that’s a bold pop of color in comparison to its shadowy twilight zone habitat. The aptly named rose-veiled fairy wrasse, or Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa, is a small creature with a bright pink head and bodily scales in shades of yellow and blue. Generally found between 131 and 229 feet below sea level, the rainbow-hued specimen is a striking discovery and the first to be formally classified by a Maldivian researcher.

First encountered in 1990, the species was originally categorized as the adult version of the similar Cirrhilabrus rubrisquamis. It wasn’t until scientists from the California Academy of Science’s Hope for Reefs project studied the height of the spines in each fin and the number of scales that they realized that the “multicolor marvel” deserved its own taxonomy. (via Moss & Fog)

Photography Science

A Deep-Sea Montage Unveils the Fantastic, Bizarre Creatures Swimming in Monterey Bay

A compilation recently released from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (previously) invokes the old adage that reality is stranger than fiction. Featuring dozens of otherworldly sea creatures, the footage highlights some of the most bizarre animals spotted during the organization’s ROV dives, which range from the water’s surface to its 4,900-foot-deep floor. The montage includes a diverse array of species from aptly named strawberry squid and the elusive psychedelic jellyfish to the pacific viperfish. The institute’s partner organization, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, is also hosting an exhibition dedicated to the mysterious creatures living in the region, which opens this April. (via Moss and Fog)

Peacock squid

Swimming sea cucumber

Feather star

Vampire squid

Strawberry squid

Barreleye

Design Illustration

Marine Characters Smile in a Playfully Illustrated Line of Surfboards by Jean Jullien

All images © Julien Binet, courtesy of Jean Jullien, shared with permission

French artist Jean Jullien (previously) brings his signature cartoonish characters to a new line of minimally illustrated surfboards. A collaboration with the manufacturer Fernand, the four spirited designs feature a pair of grinning fish, a relaxed whale, and a playful seal painted on single-color backdrops. To create the pieces, Jullien hand-illustrates each of the marine creatures on the foam boards before they’re glazed by Resin League and polished by Paul Hyde. You can find out more about the collaboration along with information on purchasing the varied designs on the artist’s Instagram. (via It’s Nice That)

Photography

Underwater Photos Taken During Blackwater Dives Frame the Atlantic Ocean's Stunning Diversity

Female blanket octopus in Palm Beach, Florida. All images licensed, © BluePlanetArchive/Steven Kovacs

After sunset, self-taught photographer Steven Kovacs plunges into the open ocean around Palm Beach to shoot the minuscule, unassuming creatures floating in the depths. He’s spent the last eight years on blackwater dives about 730 feet off the eastern coast of Florida in a process that “entails drifting near the surface at night from 0 to 100 feet over very deep water.” Often framing species rarely seen by humans, Kovacs shoots the larval fish against the dark backdrop in a way that highlights the most striking aspects of their bodies, including wispy, translucent fins, iridescent features, and bulbous eyes.

Because Kovacs doesn’t have formal training in marine biology, he often enlists the help of scientists around the world to identify many of the rare fish he photographs. At the top of his list for future encounters are three cusk eel species and the female blanket octopus, a creature known for unveiling a billowing membrane that’s shown above.

Prints of Kovacs’s images are available from Blue Planet, and you can keep up with his underwater excursions on Instagram.

Male Paper Nautiluses, Argonauta species, in Palm Beach, Florida. © BluePlanetArchive/Steven Kovacs

Acanthonus armatus, the bethypelagic species of Cusk Eel, in Palm Beach, Florida. © BluePlanetArchive/Steven Kovacs

Left: Ribbonfish in Palm Beach, Florida. Right: Fish in the Ipnops family in Palm Beach, Florida. © BluePlanetArchive/Steven Kovacs

Brotulotaenia species of Cusk Eel in Palm Beach, Florida. © BluePlanetArchive/Steven Kovacs

Larval Wonderpus in Anilao, Philippines. © BluePlanetArchive/Steven Kovacs

Larval Pancake Batfish in Palm Beach, Florida. © BluePlanetArchive/Steven Kovacs

Tripodfish in Palm Beach, Flordia. © BluePlanetArchive/Steven Kovacs

Larval flounder in Palm Beach, Florida. © BluePlanetArchive/Steven Kovacs

Animation

The Beauty: A Poignant Animated Short Film Reimagines Plastic Waste as Ocean Life

“Simultaneously stunning and filthy” is how director Pascal Schelbli describes his 2019 short film “The Beauty.” A cautionary reimagining of the world’s rampant plastic pollution, the arresting animation reenvisions waste as lively sea life: a bubble-wrap fish puffs up, a serpentine tire glides through the water, and an entire school of discarded footwear swims in an undulating mass.

As it plumbs the vast expanse of the littered ocean, “The Beauty” magnifies the enduring nature of waste and lays bare the insidious effects of microplastics as they enter the food chain and impact the overall health of the ecosystem. In a statement, Schelbli describes the motivation behind the film, which won a Student Academy Award in 2020:

Instead of showing another mournful stomach full of plastic bags, I thought, ‘what if plastic could be integrated into the sea life and nature solves the problem?’ The film should take you on a journey, where all our feelings of guilt will disappear. But in the end, we wake up and realize that we need to change something.

To see more of the Zürich-based director’s poignant animations, check out his Vimeo and Instagram, and watch a recent Last Week Tonight segment that dives further into the crisis and explains how recycling isn’t the best solution.