There’s something magical about underwater photos. If you don’t believe us, imagine Nirvana’s Nevermind cover with the baby lying on a rug instead of swimming in a pool.
Stock photo libraries are packed with thrilling underwater shots, but there are lots of gems on Flickr, in Wikimedia and in other libraries too, and you may often use those photos in your own creations too.
Here are some of the most astounding underwater photos we’ve seen; some are astounding because of the moment they captured; others because of the stories of their subjects, and still others because of what they say about what we humans have done to so many species.
Please note that the last photo may not be appropriate for younger viewers.
Underwater Woman
Let’s have some art. This striking image by Engin Akyurt is our favourite in a series of underwater shots: we like the composition, the stillness of the model and the contrast between the deep black of the background and the bright red of the model’s dress.
Stock photo libraries contain quite a few arty underwater shots – for example, Adobe Stock has a selection of women in brightly coloured clothes and of couples swimming while wearing formal clothes – but we prefer this one: it does more with less.
Grey Shark
Greek-based photographer has made good use of colour in this photo of a grey shark: it looks a lot more sinister than it actually is, because the grey shark isn’t really dangerous to humans unless you wear a swimsuit made of raw meat.
Like many marine photographs, this one has a sad undercurrent, because like many sharks the grey shark is suffering from declining numbers after years of commercial fishing: while they’re protected species, illegal fishing still occurs.
A Magnificent Siphonophore
If we didn’t trust the NOAA we’d think they’d made this one in a 3D modelling app. The wondrously coloured Siphonophore is a Cnidaria, which is a group of creatures that includes coral and jellyfish such as the infamous Portuguese Man O’ War, and some of them are incredibly big: specimens as long as 40 metres have been discovered.
The most colourful ones live in the deepest waters and some are even bioluminescent, glowing when disturbed. They’re predators but they’re also very vulnerable as they break very easily.
Red Jellyfish
There’s weird, and then there’s Red Jellyfish weird. This luminous lovely looks like a visitor from another planet, and we’d love to know who took the photo, where they took it and what particular kind of jellyfish this is.
Sadly Pixabay can only tell us that it was shot in 2013 on a Panasonic DMC-FZ200, which isn’t really very helpful.
Humboldt Penguin
Guichard is from London, but you won’t see many Humboldts around there: it’s native to South America, although this particular shot was taken in a bird park in France.
You probably guessed that from the background colour: underwater shots in relatively small enclosures tend to be much greener than ones taken in the great outdoors. Nevertheless, it’s a superb shot, capturing some really excellent side-eye from its subject.
Purple and Pink Jellyfish
Aren’t jellyfish weird? This could be a space alien, or the pattern made by something leaking ink into water. It’s a brilliantly colourful image by the very versatile Tim Mossholder, whose photos often make great use of colour as in this photo.
We don’t know what particular species this jellyfish is, but the combination of purple and pink usually spells bad news for its prey and of any humans unlucky enough to get too close.
Isla Mujeres
There’s something haunting about man-made things that weren’t designed to live at the bottom of the sea, and the photo sites are packed with fascinating photos of shipwrecks and other vehicles that ended up where they weren’t intended.
But as interesting as they are, we’re more drawn to the ruins of architecture and of amazing things like these sunken statues from the Mexican island of Isla Mujeres. It looks like the aftermath of a tragedy but it’s actually a modern art museum, which is pretty astounding.
Humpback Whale
This beautiful photo of a humpback whale inspecting a diver is all over the internet – and sadly it’s usually posted without credit on wallpaper sites, free photo sites and so on. Once again we’re in the good hands of the NOAA, and this photo helps communicate the scale and majesty of this extraordinary creature.
Some humpbacks can grow as long as 16 metres and weigh up to 30 metric tons, which is all the more incredible when you hit YouTube for videos of them hurling themselves into the air. This is one creature you really don’t want belly flopping onto your pedal.
Pink and Brown Jellyfish
Kalisinski has taken some beautiful shots in the warm, clear waters around Mallorca, and this close shot of an otherworldly jellyfish is great: it’s captured not just the weird blobbiness of its subject but the floating tendrils it uses to catch its meals.
Although Kalisinski doesn’t name the jellyfish we think it’s Pelagia Noctiluca, a relatively small and quite unusual sight in the Majorcan waters but one you don’t want to get on the wrong side of: those tentacles can cause pain, burning and muscle cramps.
Polar Bear
Not everything you see underwater lives underwater. Visitors like this polar bear are bad news for seals, because they’re looking for their dinner: for many seals this face may be the last thing they see, as it’s attached to a body weighing as much as 450Kg.
Polar bears are yet another species suffering because of humans: climate change is destroying the ice on which they live, and they were classified as a threatened species by the US in 2008.
