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Underwater city on low tide

Underwater City off Mafia Island, Tanzania

Seaunseen
18
5982
PHOTOGRAPHY BY HANNAH JANE AND ALAN SUTTON While on a helicopter flight off the usual flight path to Mafia Island off the coast of Tanzania, the tide was low and I spotted an unusually shaped formation in t...
slemmestad-wreck
3.7Awesome

Slemmestad Shipwreck

Alan Sutton
2
419
On the 27th of March 1951 the Slemmestad, laden with 3,500 tons of general cargo, including bitumen, brandy, kerosene, lube oil, matches and bagged cement, whilst on a voyage from...
Free-Diving Walden Pond

Free-Diving at Walden Pond

Renee Blundon
1
923
Nothing is more fantastic than free-diving in the waters of my own beautiful homeland. Floating face down on the surface of Walden Pond, in the world I forcibly left behind, instructor, Nick Fazah, from Eas...

The Experience of Night Diving

Renee Blundon
67
Diving at night is a surreal, lunar-like experience. I'm surrounded in complete darkness at the bottom of the Indian ocean, with only a beam of light to expose what's hiding and lingering nearby. Fish life, cre...

Lionfish Make Love to the Camera

Renee Blundon
117
Lionfish are unquestionably one of the most photogenic fish in the sea, with an eccentric, gaudy profile, elaborate, vibrant stripes and a cantankerous, unhurried demeanor; they glide along reefs like an underw...
Tyler's toby (Canthigaster tyleri)

Tyler’s toby – Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
The Tyler's toby (Canthigaster tyleri) is rarely seen in Tanzanian waters perhaps because it is found deeper than the other toby's. Fish in the Tetraodontidae family have the smallest genome of any verte...
Emperor shrimp (Periclimenes imperator)

Emperor Shrimp-Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
22
The Emperor shrimp (Periclimenes imperator) is one of the more vividly colored shrimp around.  They form what are termed commensal relationships with various species of nudibranch and sea cucumbers (holothu...
Hairy Coral Crab (Cymo andreossyi) is also known as the Furry Coral Crab

Hairy Coral Crab- Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
11
The Hairy Coral Crab (Cymo andreossyi) is also known as the Furry Coral Crab . Being small and well camouflaged they are difficult to spot and are probably best found at night when their eyes reflect light ...
Comet (Calloplesiops altivelis) is also known as the Marine Betta

Comet ( Fish) – Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
21
The Comet (Calloplesiops altivelis) is also known as the Marine Betta because of their similarity to the Siamese Fighter. They are stunning looking fishes that are rarely seen in the open during the day in ...
Red Snapper (Lutjanus bohar) is also known as the Twinspot Snapper, the Two-spot Red snapper and the Bohar Snapper

Red Snapper- Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
12
The Red Snapper  (Lutjanus bohar) is also known as the Twinspot Snapper, the Two-spot Red snapper, the Red Bass and the Bohar Snapper. They are common inhabitants of rubble areas and reef tops in Tanzania b...
Snubnose Grouper (Epinephelus macrospilos) is also known as the Large-spotted Rockcod, Bigspot Rockcod and Longfin Grouper

Snubnose Grouper – Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
15
The Snubnose Grouper (Epinephelus macrospilos) is also known as the Large-spotted Rockcod, Bigspot Rockcod and Longfin Grouper.. They are one of the eight species of reticulated groupers that live on coral ...
Honeycomb grouper Epinephelus merra

Honeycomb Grouper – Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
22
The Honeycomb grouper Epinephelus merra is also known as the Dwarf-spotted Grouper, the Honeycomb Rock Cod and the Wire-netted Rock Cod. They are one of the eight species of reticulated groupers that live o...
Blue Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)

Regal Blue Tang-Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
29
The Regal Blue Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus) is also known as the  Blue Tang, the Palette Surgeonfish, the Hepatus Tang  and of course more famously as Dory from the Pixar movies "Finding Nemo" and "Finding ...
Bobtail squid also known as Pigmy Squid

Bobtail Squid- Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
43
Bobtail squid are also known as Dumpling Squid. They are exceptionally cute looking little cephalopods and are fascinating to watch.  They are in the order Sepiolida and are closely related to cuttlefish al...
Olive Purse Crab, Leucosia pubescens

Olive Purse Crab- Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
7
The Olive Purse Crab, Leucosia pubescens does not seem to be common in Tanzanian waters and indeed does not seem to be recorded here. Hopefully the identification is correct. They are decapod crustaceans...
Sundial shell (Architectonica perspectiva)

Sundial Shell-Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
73
The Sundial shell (Architectonica perspectiva) is  also known as the Perspective Sundial shell and the Clear Sundial shell.  They are marine snails in the super family Architectonicoidea and were first desc...
Dragon Moray Eel, Enchelycore pardalis is also known as the Dragon Moray Eel

Dragon Moray Eel-Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
164
The Dragon Moray Eel, Enchelycore pardalis is also known as the Dragon Eel and the Leopard Moray Eel.  The reference to Leopard comes from their scientific name, with paradalis meaning leopard. They are ver...
Gelatinous cardinalfish (Pseudamia gelatinosa)

Gelatinous cardinalfish-Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
13
The Gelatinous cardinalfish (Pseudamia gelatinosa) is rare in Tanzanian waters and is remarkably cryptic, hiding at the first sign of light. In several years of diving we have seen very few specimens and have m...
Blue-spotted Toby (Canthigaster cyanospilota)

Blue-spotted Toby – Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
22
The Blue-spotted Toby (Canthigaster cyanospilota) is also known as the Blue-spotted Pufferfish.  They were previously known as Canthigaster Coronata but in a study done by Randall, J. E.; Williams, J. T.; Rocha...
Bubble Tip Anemone (entacmaea quadricolor)

Bubble-tip Anemone – Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
132
The Bubble-tip anemone (entacmaea quadricolor) is also known as the BTA in the aquarium trade. They are one of the more attractive looking anemones although their colors can vary from drab to brightly color...
Swimming Anemone (Boloceroides mcmurrichi)

Swimming Anemone – Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
30
The Swimming Anemone, Boloceroides mcmurrichi is fairly common in the shallows in Tanzanian waters. As can be seen in the images they obtain their name from their ability to swim.  The anemones swimming in ...
Barred Cardinalfish Fowleria marmorata

Barred Cardinalfish-Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
13
The Barred Cardinalfish (Fowleria marmorata) is not common in Tanzanian waters and in several years of diving we have seen very few specimens. APPEARANCE The body shape is similar to other Cardinalfish, w...
Squat Shrimp (Thor amboinensis) is also known as the Sexy Shrimp

The Squat Shrimp-Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
58
The Squat Shrimp (Thor amboinensis) is also known as the Sexy Shrimp. They are small colorful shrimp that form a comensual relationship with various species of anemone. They have a habit of holding their ab...
Pemba chromis (Chromis pembae)

Pemba Chromis – Facts and Photographs

Alan Sutton
12
The Pemba chromis (Chromis pembae) is not a common fish on the Tanzanian coast and we have only seen them in three areas. They were only described by Allen in 2010, perhaps because they are generally found ...