Tuscan Archipelago88 Videos

Astrospartus mediterraneus & Paramuricea clavata

In this amazing dive among Paramuricea clavata, red Gorgonian, we met numerous Gorgon starfish, Basket star or Astrospartus mediterraneus. We are on a rocky bottom between 49 and 52 meters deep, where we have encountered various species of fish and marine species such as sponges, red scorpionfish, Anthias anthias, red mullet, coocko wrasse and more. ...

Aplysia depilans - Sea hare

We publish another encounter with the Sea hare, Aplysia depilans, this time which took place on a depth of about 42/45 meters. We are on a not very high rock wall about 4/5 miles from the coast where, due to the now increasingly present mucillage, animals and marine organisms seem to have disappeared. ...

Pecten jacobaeus - Mediterranean scallop

We all know or have seen at least once the scallop (Mediterranean scallop) Pecten jacobaeus shell, since it is often collected for its beauty or used as a vessel or container. This bivalve mollusc is rather sought after for the goodness of its meat and, as can be seen from the film, not only by man but above all by the Octopus (Octopus vulgaris) of which it is greedy like almost all molluscs. ...

Charonia tritonis - Giant triton

We are on some isolated rocks at a depth of 40/46 meters, where we have found two beautiful specimens of Charonia tritonis, Giant mediterranean triton.  This is the mollusk and consequently the largest shell in the Mediterranean Sea. In this dive we met two of them, we filmed the first one casually on the wall we were exploring, we realized watching the footage that we passed by without seeing it. The second was inside a hole from which we moved it to try to film it better. ...

Mauve stinger

In this video made in summer we filmed Mauve stinger or Purle jellyfish, Pelagia noctiluca luminous jellyfish. We stopped to film three specimens we met during the same swim, snorkelling in the waves, trying hard to avoid contact with these jellyfish. In fact, the Pelagia noctiluca - Luminous jellyfish - is the most dangerous jellyfish in the Mediterranean Sea, contact with its tentacles can cause painful skin irritations and burns. ...

White gorgonian - Eunicella singularis

White gorgonian Eunicella singularis, is a gorgonian typical of the Mediterranean Sea, grows on rocky, muddy and detrital bottoms and often colonizes bottoms that have undergone stress caused by the change in water temperatures or damage caused by trawling, replacing the other species ...

Pencil urchin - Stylocidaris affinis

Pencil urchin is certainly one of the most curious and most characteristic species of Mediterranean urchins. Its common name derives from the shape of its thorns which resemble a classic pencil or "Lapis" as we say in Tuscany. However, these thorns are quite fragile as they are funny ...

Picarel - Spicara smaris

Spicara smaris in italian Zerro, are those little fish that practically always accompany us in our dives to which we often do not give too much importance since we always hope to find more important species to film and photograph. ...

Mediterranean feather star - Antedon Mediterranea

Antedon Mediterranea - Mediterranean feather star - is one of the most filmed animal by underwater photographers, certanly for the colors of this splendid owl but above all for the scarce mobility and morphological characteristics of the ten tentacles of the starfish remeber the most famous feathered starfish of tropical seas. ...

Chromis chromis - Mediterranean chromis

In this collage of various videos you can see the various stages of growth of the Chromis chromis, the very common black damselfish that inhabits the depths of the entire Mediterranean Sea. At first we encountered the fry in their characteristic electric blue livery. Chromis chromis Mediterranean chromis Castagnola nera intotheblue.it ...

Slipper lobster - Scyllarus arctus

Slipper lobster, Magnosella, Scyllarus arctus (Ciacala di mare or Batti batti) are becoming increasingly rare in our Mediterranean Sea. Slipper lobster has even become a protected species in Italy due to indiscriminate fishing and the change in the conditions of its habitat ...

Common northern comb jelly - Bolinopsis infundibulum

In this collage of videos made in two different dives a few days apart but always in the same stretch of sea we filmed one of the many species of ctenophores that inhabit our Mediterranean Sea, from some research it seems to be the Bolinopsis infundibulum or tentacled Ctenophore.  ...

Discovering new wrecks

The discovery of an unknown wreck is certainly one of the most beautiful emotions a diver can experience. However, it is an increasingly rare event now, the wrecks that can be visited with scuba loaded with compressed air are now practically all known in the various areas of the Mediterranean Sea, ...

Collect plastic and let jellyfish live!

Rhizostoma pulmo (Barrel Jellyfish) is the largest jellyfish in the Mediterranean Sea, and is also one of the most common and easiest to encounter. Every summer we manage to film some specimens, in this case we found ourselves in front of a real herd of a hundred jellyfish, a rather rare event in recent years. ...

Leptogorgia sarmentosa Gorgonian

Leptogorgia sarmentosa Gorgonian is quite common in the Mediterranean Sea, we often meet it during our dives, but not in the area where we explored in this video. On this seabed there are not many gorgonians, despite being the classic coralligenous bottom there is very common the red coral, Corallium rubrum ...

Freediving on Melania wreck

Melania was a coastal freighter that transported goods and more between the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago and Livorno. It is located a short distance from the coast off the coast of Vada (in the area of ​​the beautiful "Secche di Vada") and as can be seen from the images and video at depths that are quite accessible even in apnea ...

Salpa maxima

Salpa maxima also arrived in the upper Tyrrhenian Sea or lower Ligurian Sea, that is, in the waters of Livorno and the province where we often dive. It is a Tunicate; at first sight it looks like a cross between a fish and a jellyfish but it is neither, it is actually a transparent invertebrate belonging to the order of the Salpidae subphylum Tunicata, coming from the deepest oceans and very rare in the Mediterranean....

Mucilage in May!

Here we are! and also this year we are here with mucilage phenomenon, the problem is: we are just in May and a week ago there was absolutely nothing in the same place! Could we blame all this on Hannibal anticyclone and the anomalous heat of this season ?! ...

Octopus seen closely HD

Given the success of the video of this octopus (Common octopus Octopus vulgaris) made a few years ago, we decide to republish it in high resolution, eliminating some cut parts and slowing down a few moments such as that of the encounter and escape ...

Sciaena umbra - Brown meagre - Corb

In the video we see a sequence of several freediving encounters made with the Brown meagre or Corb, Sciaena umbra. We have filmed this splendid fish many times and we will never tire of posting other encounters given the beauty of this species of Scianidae ...

Fanworm - Sabella spallanzanii

European Fanworm is one of the easiest organisms to encounter during a dive or more simply when you go underwater at any depth. However, it is almost impossible not to stop and admire it trying to observe it ...

Forkbeard - Phycis phycis

We are on a shoal in the middle of the sea, the seabed varies from 38 to 42 meters deep and we are in the classic habitat of the Mediterranean grouper, the Moray helena and the Mostella or Musdea, Phycis phycis ...

Painted Dorid- Felimare picta

With this article we add a new species to the Nudibranchis filmed on intotheblue.it. This is Felimare picta, one of the most colorful sea snails belonging to the genus Nudibranchia in the Mediterranean Sea. ...

Annular sea bream - Diplodus annularis

With Annular sea bream, Diplodus annularis, we completed the species of Seabreams present in the Mediterranean sea filmed on this site. Sarago sparaglione Diplodus annularis Annular sea bream intotheblue.it ...

Flabellia petiolata

Flabellia petiolata  is a green algae in the Udoteaceae family. Flabellia petiolata is native to the Mediterranean Sea and also occurs in the Canary Islands and Cape Verde. Lives at a depth between 10 and 60 meters; the video that I present to you was made at a depth of over 50 meters and highlights a beautiful carpet of this important alga. It grows in coralligenous substrates of the sublittoral often in association with other algae.

Sustainable fishing

Sustainable fishing means leaving enough fish in the seas, respecting habitats and making sure that people who depend on the fishing economy can maintain their livelihoods. ...

Murena helena close encounter

We are 5/6 miles from the coast on a seabed that varies from 45 to 48 meters deep, where we met a beautiful Mediterranean moray, Muraena helena. ...

Medusa Cassiopea mediterranea

Mediterranean Cassiopeia, Cotylorhiza tuberculata, is the jellyfish of the Mediterranean Sea. In the video we see a Cassiopeia jellyfish still at a rather juvenile stage of the "adult jellyfish" phase, that is, it does not yet have the characteristic "fried egg yolk" ...

Missing Island

Missing Island is a shoal halfway between the Island of Gorgona and Livorno. The shoal has two summits a couple of miles apart which rise to a depth of about 36 and 46 meters, from a depth of 80 meters on the side of Livorno and over 120 meters on the side of the Island of Gorgona ...

Octopus Mimicry

Video series on the Common Octopus, Octopus vulgaris continues, this time we want to show how the almost perfect mimicry is such an effective weapon. Certainly not because of the Octopus that also in this case manages to blend ...

Yellowmouth barracuda - Sphyraena viridensis

Mediterranean Barracuda or Yellow-mouth Barracuda (Sphyraena viridensis) is an endemic species of Mediterranean Sea, although many consider it an alien species ...

SOS Mediterranean sea and Oceans

This video was made on 11 June 2021 in the reefs of Lighthouse Vada near Livorno, over 6 miles from the coast of Castiglioncello at a depth of over 42 meters. ...

Mucilage - Sea Snot

We are on a rocky and sandy bottom at a depth of about 36/40 meters, and as we can see in the video, the seabed is almost completely covered by marine mucilage. ...

Bath Sponge

Sponges, contrary to what one might think at first sight, are very simple multicellular animal organisms very similar in shape and appearance to plant organisms. ...

Paramuricea clavata Reproduction

We have witnessed a wonderful "miracle" of nature that we document with this underwater video: the reproduction of Paramuricea clavata. A large colony of Gorgonians have opened their polyps ...

Barrel jellyfish - Rhizostoma pulmo

The first encounter of the 2021 season was this beautiful specimen of the Barrel jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo. They are usually jellyfish that meet in late summer and autumn, so encountering this jellyfish in May is a fairly rare occurrence ...