The spanish dancer is my interpretation of the largest type of nudibranc (or sea slug). I've been lucky enough to see a few of these whilst diving, and they are quite exquisite. Free swimming in open water, I can understand how they got their colloquial name.
The next print is of a frog fish and an unsuspecting victim. These really are clever fish - they have a lure somewhere above their eyes which they wave around to attract 'food'. They are also known as anglerfish, which is a better description. They don't tend to move around a lot, although I have seen some swimming. They usually wedge themselves between rocks using their pectoral fins for balance and wait.
Years ago I got to learn alot about seahorses as I designed a website for a seahorse charity. I've got quite good at spotting them now underwater - they don't often look this 'perky'! For the most part they cling onto a piece of sea grass and sort of flop, oh and turn the other way if you try to look at them carefully or take a photo! I had the idea of a sort of yin/yang pair of seahorses - I thought it might work graphically with lino. I also checked with Marcel - have we ever seen seahorses use each other to cling on to instead of just sea grass? Apparently yes... and there is a photo somewhere which I'll see if we can find.
My late father was very keen for his eldest daughter to be inducted into the world of science. I have a clear memory of one of the experients he set up one on more than one occasion. In a large glass jar, there was a diver which would slowly rise and fall. Sadly my Dad is no longer around to ask what scientific experiment he had set up here. I don't think it is a Cartesian diver as that involves a plastic bottle. I will do some investigating... I wonder if in some subtle way this got me interested in the world of diving.
