These Photos Of Mysterious Ocean Creatures Are Creepily Beautiful
Alexander Semenov
The kinds of organisms that Semonov photographs look like organisms from an alien planet. In fact, many are gelatinous zoo plankton, also known as "gelata," a poorly understood animal group of tiny, delicate sea creatures.
Most of the organisms he documents have never been discovered before, or if they have, information is extremely limited on their characteristics and behaviors. With just over 7,000 species documented, he estimates that scientists have only discovered 20% of the potential gelata in the world.
Semonov shared some photos from his expeditions with us here, but you can see more at his Flickr. In 2015, Semonov will be heading up the Aquatilis Expedition, an around-the-world journey documenting never-before-seen marine life and sharing it instantaneously via a video blog.
The Polychaete below is a class of ringed worms that live primarily in deep seas. This class of worms lives in a variety of conditions - some species survive freezing ocean temperatures on the deep ocean floor, while others live in extremely hot temperatures near thermal vents.
Alexander Semenov
Organisms like the Flabellina Polaris, a type of sea slug shown here, are extremely delicate. For that reason he has begun to photograph the organisms in their natural environment.
Here you can see it laying its eggs:
Alexander Semenov
Alexander Semenov
Alexander Semenov
The Anonyx nugax below is a type of crustacean without an exoskeleton. They are primarily scavengers.
Alexander Semenov
Alexander Semenov
Alexander Semenov
Alexander Semenov
Alexander Semenov
Alexander Semonov
Alexander Semenov
Alexander Semenov
Alexander Semenov
Alexander Semenov
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