In this next-level type of night diving, the ocean serves up the kind of life you’ll only find in sci-fi movies. Attracted to floodlights suspended in midwater, creatures emerge from the depths to feed. This is the largest animal migration on Earth, and it happens every night! The macro life includes crabs, squid, fish larvae, and the larvae of other alien creatures. They are usually transparent or bioluminescent, although there are some exceptions like the shimmering blanket octopus (Tremoctopus violaceus).
This squid managed to snag a snack, thanks to the blackwater lights
PHOTOGRAPHER Thomas Zumbrunnen
Flounders have a body geometry that has adapted to life on the sea bottom, and as juveniles, they swim efficiently in the water column by undulating their bodies to create propulsion
PHOTOGRAPHER Thomas Zumbrunnen
The sharpear enope suid can be found in tropical and subtropical oceans, can grow to about 25 centimentres, and is usually found between 200 and 1,000 metres
PHOTOGRAPHER Thomas Zumbrunnen
When threatened, blanket octopuses stretch their arms out to create a blanket like silhouette, designed to frighten would be attackers away
PHOTOGRAPHER Mike Bartick
Lobster larvae drift up into the midwater where food is abundant and currents can carry them to new homes
PHOTOGRAPHER Thomas Zumbrunnen
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