Underwater world

Every summer, I go to a lake of the south-eas of France to take pictures of water lilies nenúfares (Nymphaeaceae) and fishes who hide among them. Finding the right balance between light, angle of view and framing depending on the sun position, plants density and water clarity, allows a wide diversity of pictures. I approach them by snorkeling and moving very cautiously, not to rise particles from the bottom.

A female of greater argonaut (Argonauta argo) clings to a drifting jellyfish, using it as both a means of transport and protection. Rarely seen in the wild, these delicate pelagic octopuses create a paper-thin shell to brood their eggs. This extraordinary encounter, captured during a blackwater dive, reveals the nautilus’s remarkable adaptability and highlights the fragile beauty of the open ocean’s life.

Four male Australian Giant Cuttlefish (Ascarosepion apama) do their best to compete for the attention of a smaller female, in a dazzling display of colour and shape-shifting changes.

As the storm passed, revealing a rainbow, below the waters surface glides a Southern stingray, (Hypanus americanus) across the sandy ocean floor. This photo was taken with an underwater housing, and fisheye lens with a large dome port, to capture both above and below the water.

It is true that birds are the closest living descendants of dinosaurs, and there is something unmistakeably dinosaur-like about Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus). Perhaps it's because of their piercing eyes, or the fact that they are remarkable predators that conquer both land and water environments. They can plunge into the sea from the sky at speeds up to 60mph.

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus), whose daytime activities remain a mystery surfaces to shallower depths at night time to feed on planktonic life. What surprised me the most about the biggest fish of the sea was not its size, but the number of southern remoras (Remora australis) she carried with her - like a dynamic shadow, they followed and mimicked her every move accompanying her during her midnight feast.

Several jellyfish floating on the sea surface early in the morning basking in the first rays of sunlight. The fried egg jellyfish (Cotylorhiza tuberculata) has symbiotic dinoflagellates in its tissues and therefore must bask in the sun, and sometimes they swim together in groups on the surface.