Underwater.

Lately I have been thinking about what is beautiful and worth sharing with the world. I came across some photos and a video I took underwater in Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo a few years ago, and was struck by how vivid they looked, and how they immersed me once again in that underwater otherworld, and how much I wanted to be back there, in the ocean, under the sea. I have been trying to upload more of my photos to Flickr, where currently I have over 11,000 photos, but I haven't really been focussing on pictures that are nice to see, though some have made me feel good to look at. So I thought I would put together all my underwater photos that are already on Flickr into one album. Here are some of them:

Emperor angelfish and parrotfish, Tahiti, French Polynesia, 1994.

Still one of my favourite underwater photos, and I shot it with a £5 plastic disposable underwater camera in 1994.

Turtle, Bird Island, Seychelles, 2006.

The first time I ever snorkelled with a turtle in the wild. I was incredibly lucky to get this photograph. I can still picture this moment vividly in my mind's eye. Amazing to also have it on film.

Manta ray, Two Mile Reef, Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique, 2009.

Looked up and saw this ray while I was scubadiving. I chose this as the one thousandth picture I uploaded to Flickr.

Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo, 2010.

Underwater Ireland can be just as beautiful as underwater Africa. It was coming across these pictures from a trip to Mullaghmore in County Sligo on the Atlantic coast of Ireland that made me want to compile more underwater photos, so I've included a few of them here.

Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo, 2010.

Hard to believe this is in the sea, not an aquarium.

Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo, 2010.

I love the way the underwater and surface worlds co-exist, usually oblivious to each other.

Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo, 2010.

This picture is taken from underwater, seaweed against the sky like trees. The bubble reveals the perspective.

Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo, 2010.

A little video to give you a feel for the experience of snorkelling.

Under the ice in a fountain, Iveagh Gardens, Dublin, 2010.

Sometimes a photo is interesting or beautiful in a different way. I like these pictures taken under the ice in a fountain in one of my favourite places, the Iveagh Gardens near my home in Dublin, during the big snow of 2010.

Zanzibar, Tanzania, 2015.

The coral is so amazing. As are the fish.

Seapoint, Dublin, 2017.

A blurry impression of snorkelling at one of my favourite swimming spots, with Martello tower just about distinguishable.

Jellyfish, Seapoint, Dublin, 2018.

I saw five individual jellyfish underwater at different times, of different types, shapes and colours.

Seapoint, Dublin, 2018.

The rocks and seaweed make me feel at home.

Seapoint, Dublin, 2018.

And even underwater, the sun shines through.

My underwater photos.