The UK's seas are home to more than 8000 different marine species. Alex Mustard's spectacular images capture the most dramatic and colourful creatures - from basking sharks in the Inner Hebrides to grey seals in Lundy and the Farne Islands and seahorses off the coast of Dorset.
Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Rear view of Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) feeding on plankton in the surface waters around the island of Coll, Inner Hebrides, Scotland, UK, June. Did you know? The basking shark is the world's...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Snorkellers viewed from below, Kimmerage Bay, Dorset, UK, August
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) with mouth wide open feeding on plankton concentrated in surface waters close to the island of Coll, Inner Hebrides, Scotland, UK, June 2011. 2020VISION Exhibition....
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) feeding on plankton in the surface waters around the island of Coll, Inner Hebrides, Scotland, UK, June. 2020VISION Book Plate. Did you know? The largest Basking sha...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) swimming amongst kelp, Farne Islands, Northumberland, England, UK, August. 2020VISION Book Plate. Did you know? The 1914 Grey Seal Protection Act ensured this species su...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) disappears back into the blue in the surface waters around the island of Coll, Inner Hebrides, Scotland, UK, June. Did you know? Basking sharks are the second larges...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Long-clawed squat lobster (Munida rugosa) portrait, Loch Fyne, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK, June
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Nudibranch (Polycera quadrilineata) feeding on sea mat (bryozoan) growing on kelp frond. Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK. June.
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Spiny squat lobster (Galathea strigosa) close up, Loch Fyne, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK, June
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Tompot blenny (Parablennius gattorugine) in bright summer mating colours, peering out from his home in a discarded tube, where he was guarding his eggs (not visible in this photo), Swanage Pier, Dorse...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Common / Red sunstar (Crossaster papposus) amongst Dead man's fingers (Alcyonium digitatum) on a rocky reef, beneath kelp. Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK, June.
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Portrait of Montague's blenny (Coryphoblennius galerita) on pebbly seabed under Swanage Pier, Dorset, UK, May
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Male Common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) in striped breeding colouration, guarding a female as she lays eggs within the seaweeds. Babbacombe Bay, Torbay, Devon, UK, May spawning period. Did you know...
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Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / Dead man's fingers (Alcyonium digitatum), growing on rock faces below the kelp, St Abbs (St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve), Berwickshire, Scotland, UK, October 2011. Did you know? Soft co...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Pair of Common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), female in front of male, during spring spawning season, Babbacombe Bay, Torbay, Devon, UK, May
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Light-bulb sea squirts (Clavelina lepadiformis), a colonial filter feeding invertebrate, fluoresce green when photographed under deep blue light. Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK, June. Did you know? Se...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / A tiny amphipod (Iphimedia obesa) living on Dead man's fingers soft coral (Alcyonium digitatum) Loch Carron, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, UK, April.
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Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / Close-up of Dahlia anemone (Urticina felina / Tealia felina, St Abbs (St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve), Berwickshire, Scotland, August 2011
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Scuba diver exploring a sea cave beneath Giants Legs, Bressay, Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Comb jelly / Sea gooseberry (Pleurobrachia pileus) in open water. The feathery tentacles are used for capturing prey and can be extended behind the jellyfish or completely retracted. Loch Carron, Ross...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Mouth and tentacles of Jewel anemone (Corynactis viridis) photographed under blue light to show fluorescence, Plymouth Sound, Devon, UK, July
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Group of Jewel anemones (Corynactis viridis) photographed under blue light to show their fluorescence, Plymouth Sound, Devon, UK, July
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Nudibranch (Polycera quadrilineata) portrait on a kelp frond, Island of Coll, Inner Hebrides, Scotland, UK, June.
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Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / Atlantic wolf fish (Anarhichas lupus) in a rock crevice, St Abbs (St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve), Berwickshire, Scotland, UK, August 2011
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Common guillemot (Uria aalge) swimming underwater, Farne Islands, Northumberland, UK, July. Did you know? Guillemots are shaped like a penguin for hydrodynamics, but with wings like cormorants for aer...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) surfacing beneath cliffs, Lundy Island, Devon, UK, June. Did you know? The grey seal is one of the rarest seals in the world, and the UK holds around 40% of the world po...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) swimming through the wreck of the Fleur De Lys, Swanage, Dorset, UK, July
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Lesser spotted catshark / Dogfish shark (Scyliorhinus canicula) hiding amongst seaweeds, Babbacombe Bay, Devon, UK, April. Did you know? There are at least 21 native British sharks.
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Compass jellyfish (Chrysaora hysoscella) swimming over a rocky reef, Plymouth, Devon, UK, August. Did you know? Compass jellyfish change gender throughout their lives, starting off male, and later bec...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) swimming beneath cliffs of Lundy Island, Devon, UK, June
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) shows its teeth in a playful moment, Lundy Island, Bristol Channel, England, UK, May
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) interacting with diver underwater, Lundy Island, Bristol Channel, England, UK, May. Photographer quote: 'Seal photography is a very interactive process, with the seals j...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) peering around kelp to investigate, Lundy Island, Bristol Channel, England, UK, May
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / A Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) seems content to have found a diver's fin to play with, Lundy Island, Bristol Channel, England, UK, May.~Grey seals will seek out divers and clearly enjoy demonstratin...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) portrait underwater, amongst kelp. Farne Islands, Northumberland, England, UK, August
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Puffin (Fratercula arctica) swimming underwater, Farne Islands, Northumberland, UK, July. 2020VISION Book Plate.
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / RF- Rear view of Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) feeding on plankton, visible as white dots on water surface near island of Coll, Inner Hebrides, Scotland, UK. June. (This image may be licensed eit...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Yellow / spiny seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) female sheltering is meadow of common Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Studland Bay, Dorset, UK, August. Did you know? The two species of seahorse found in Br...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Tufts of seaweed growing on a shallow seabed, Island of Coll, Inner Hebrides, Scotland, UK, June
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Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / Portrait of Ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta), St Abbs (St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve), Berwickshire, Scotland, UK, October 2011. Did you know? Ballan wrasses spend the first 8 years of...
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Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / Ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta), St Abbs (St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve), Berwickshire, Scotland, UK, October 2011
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Diver observing a Common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) Babbacombe Bay, Devon, UK, April.
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Male Fifteen spined stickleback (Spinachia spinachia) building his nest, Note how a discarded orange piece of fishing line has been incorporated. Babbacombe Bay, Torbay, Devon, UK, April
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Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / Dead man's fingers (Alcyonium digitatum), growing on rock faces below the kelp, St Abbs (St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve), Berwickshire, Scotland, UK, August 2011
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Meadow of seaweeds in a shallow channel between islands in the Cairns Of Coll, Island of Coll, Inner Hebrides, Scotland, UK, July
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Group of orange and white Plumose anemones (Metridium senile) with Moon jellyfish (Aurilia aurita) overhead in a sealoch, Loch Long, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK, June
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Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / Sea anemones (Sagartia elegans), St Abbs (St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve), Berwickshire, Scotland, UK, August 2011
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Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / Dahlia anemone (Urticina felina / Tealia felina), on bed of Common brittlestars (Ophiothrix fragilis), St Abbs (St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve), Berwickshire, Scotland, August 2011
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Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / Common Sunstar (Crossaster papposus), St Abbs (St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve), Berwickshire, Scotland, UK, October 2011
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Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / Black brittlestar (Ophiocomina nigra), yellow colour variety, with Common brittlestars (Ophiothrix fragilis), on sea bed, St Abbs (St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve), Berwickshire, Scotlan...
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Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / Bloody Henry starfish (Henricia oculata), St Abbs (St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve), Berwickshire, Scotland, UK, October 2011
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / A forest of Sea cucumbers (Psolus phantapus) feeding, extended up out of the sediment in Scottish sea loch, Loch Duich, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, UK, April
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Linda Pitkin / 2020VISION / Common Lobster (Homarus gammarus), St Abbs (St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve), Berwickshire, Scotland, UK, October 2011. 2020VISION Book Plate. Did you know? Crustaceans have blue blood,...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Hermit crab (Pagurus bernhardus) moving forward, Loch Long, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK, April. Did you know? Despite their name, hermit crabs can be quite sociable creatures.
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Swimming / Harbour crab (Liocarcinus depurator) displaying claws to defend its patch of seabed in a sea loch, Loch Fyne, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK, July. Did you know? Of the ten limbs of the swim...
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Juvenile Lumpsucker (Cyclopterus lumpus) attached to a kelp frond with its pelvic fins, which are modified into a sucker. Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK, June
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Blue-rayed limpet (Patina pellucida / Helcion pellucidum) on kelp frond, Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK, June.
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Nudibranch (Limacia clavigera) feeding on Sea matt bryozoan, growing on kelp frond, Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK, June
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Pair of Skeleton shrimps (Caprella linearis) male on left, living on lightbulb tunicates. Bard Cave, Bressay, Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK, June
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Alex Mustard / 2020VISION / Light-bulb sea squirts (Clavelina lepadiformis), a colonial filter feeding invertebrate, Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK, June
