Snorkeling145 Videos

Demosponge

Demosponges are the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include 76.2% of all species of sponges with nearly 8,800 species worldwide (World Porifera Database). 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. There are no apparatus in the sponges and there is no trace of a nervous system.

Cave with Yellow cluster Anemone

I met these beautiful colonies of Parazoanthus axinellae during a snorkeling activity in the coastal caves of the island of Pantelleria. In my experience as a diver I have never encountered these sea daisies at almost surface level; evidently in this case the colony of Parazoanthus axinellae has found particularly favorable environmental conditions of light and sea currents

Yellow-edged Lyretail

The Yellow-edged Lyretail (Variola louti) is a species of grouper belongs Actinopterygii class, Perciformes order and Serranidae family; also known as the lyretail grouper or the caramel cod. The yellow-edged lyretail is found from the Red Sea to South Africa and the Pitcairn Islands, as far as southern Japan and Australia.

Nimble spray crab - Percnon gibbesi

Percnon gibbesi is a species of crab. It is one of at least two species commonly called "Sally Lightfoot" (the other being the semi-terrestrial Grapsus grapsus from the Pacific coast of the Americas), and is also referred to as the nimble spray crab or urchin crab. It has been described as "the most invasive decapod species to enter the Mediterranean". It populates the rocky ravines of the infralittoral plain at a depth ranging from a few centimeters to a maximum of 30 meters. This video was shot in the reefs of the island of Pantelleria in the Sicily Channel.

Alifu Dhaalu Atoll to Maldives

This video was made in December 2022 during a short vacation I spent on Angaaga island; I must say that the weather was not what I wanted and therefore, not being able to do scuba diving with aqualung, I dedicated myself to snorkelling in the coral reef that surrounded the island. The small island of Angaga is located in the center of Alifu Dhaalu Atoll, in the southern part of Ari Atoll. This small island has been used exclusively as a tourist resort for those who intend to spend a holiday in the Maldives.

Octopus vulgaris - Common octopus

We have filmed Common octopus, Octopus vulgaris, several times on intotheblue.it but each encounter with this cephalopod mollusk is always unique and different from the previous ones. In this case, in fact, the octopus was so well camouflaged on the seabed that it was not possible to see it from just a few meters below the surface. ...

Ornate wrasse male with females

The ornate wrasse, Thalassoma pavo, is a species of wrasse native to the rocky coasts of the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. This species is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries, is also popular as a game fish, and can be found in the aquarium trade.

Lipophrys nigriceps - Rabosa negra

This little minnow is one of the most common Blennid species in the Mediterranean Sea. Lipophrys nigriceps - Rabosa negra - Red blenny is in fact practically omnipresent along the cliffs and rocky and jagged coasts of our sea, the only trick to find it is to look in the shaded areas and in the holes near the of the marine environment between the levels of low and high tide ...

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. ...

Australian spotted jellyfish

Phyllorhiza punctata, also known as the floating bell, Australian spotted jellyfish, brown jellyfish or the white-spotted jellyfish, is a species of jellyfish belongs to the Rhizostomatidae Family and the genus Phyllorhiza. The species has been found in the waters off the Mediterranean Sea since at least 1965. While it is not known how it was introduced to these regions, it has been theorized that budding polyps may have attached themselves to ships, or were carried in a ship's ballast tank which was subsequently dumped.

Salema - Salpa sarpa

Salema - Salpa sarpa - is one of the most common and easiest to meet Sparidae species in Mediterranean Sea. It is a gregarious fish that lives in held of even numerous individuals. In this video we see it in various conditions and habitats that it shares together with other spawners such as Seabreams, but also together with predators such as Sea bass ...

Mediterranean Parrotfish male

The Mediterranean Parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense) is a species of parrotfish found at depths up to 50 m along rocky shores in the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic, from Portugal south to Senegal. It is generally common, but uncommon or rare (locally even absent) in the northwestern Mediterranean and in the Adriatic Sea. It prefers relatively warm temperatures and there is an ongoing northward range expansion, probably because of global warming. The primary adult habitat is rocky reefs, especially in areas with macroalgae, but they may visit adjacent seagrass patches. Juveniles also occur more widely in the latter habitat.

Mediterranean Parrotfish female

This video was shot between the reefs of the island of Pantelleria in the Sicily Channel. In this stretch of sea it is easy to meet parrot fish because the climatic conditions of the sea make it their favorite habitat. The females of Sparisoma cretense are very showy due to the beautiful colors of the livery and because, unlike the males, they are less shy and therefore move us between the reefs with more ease and it is easier to meet them while snorkeling.

Aiptasia mutabilis - Trumpet anemone

Aiptasia mutabilis Trumpet anemone or Brown anemone is one of the species of anemone typical of the Mediterranean Sea, it is not as common as the classic anemone Anemonia sulcata, but it is easy to find if we dive into reefs where the sea conditions are not yet too man-made. ...

Warty comb jelly Sea walnut - Mnemiopsis leidyi

Also this year we met the Mnemiopsis leidyi, Warty comb jelly - Sea walnut. Fortunately, we have seen only a few of them, so at least for now there hasn't been the invasion of Mnemiopsis leidyi that we witnessed a few years ago. Warty comb jelly Sea walnut Noce di Mare Mnemiopsis leidyi ...

Boops boops

Boops boops commonly called the bogue, is a species of seabream native to the eastern Atlantic. Its common name in most languages refers to its large ("bug") eyes. A demeral and semi-pelagic, it can generally be found at a depth of 100 m, and infrequently down to 350 m. The Bogue reaches a maximum length of 30 cm. and a weight that can reach half a kilogram. Its color ranges from silvery green on the back to white on the belly. The fins have the same color as the back except the ventral ones which are white. On the side it has a dark lateral line under which we find four or five lateral lines of a beautiful golden color.

Amberjack / Yellowtail - Seriola dumeriili

Amberjack, Seriola dumerili is a pelagic species, that is, it spends most of its life in the open sea. However, it happens that almost always in autumn and sometimes in spring it approaches the coasts in search of food and stays here for a few months and then returns to the blue of the open sea. ...

Struggle for life II: Anemones that eat jellyfish

In this video we see a "family" of anemones of the Anemonia sulcata species (the typical anemones of the Mediterranean Sea), which have captured a Barrel jellyfish (Rhizostoma pulmo) and which are almost certainly being eaten. It is now widely demonstrated that jellyfish are ...

Brown meagre - Sciaena umbra

Also this summer we have filmed Brown meagre this splendid fish on several occasions and as always we decide to publish some videos to share the beauty of this typical species of the Mediterranean Sea. Sciaena umbra Brown meagre Corvina intotheblue.it ...

Garfish - Belone belone

Garfish, Belone belone, is commonly found in the Mediterranean Sea and in the eastern Atlantic, in the coastal areas around the Canary Islands, Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde, as well as in the Black Sea and the Azov Sea; Belone only lives in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean around the Strait of Gibraltar. ....

Mediterranean jellyfish or fried egg jellyfish - Cotylorhiza tuberculata

Like all summers we witness the "terrible proliferation of jellyfish" that scares us so much. Mediterranea Cassiopeia (Cotylorhiza tuberculata) (Mediterranean jellyfish, Mediterranean jelly or fried egg jellyfish) that we see in this video is a scifomedusa of the Cepheidae family, and is totally harmless. ...

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 ...

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. ...

Flathead grey mullets among the boats

Flathead grey mullets it is a fish able to withstand wide variations in salinity, in fact we find it regularly in marine waters, fresh or brackish waters. Extremely adaptable to all environments; we often find it at the mouths of rivers, in lagoon areas where sea water mixes with fresh water from the hinterland and inside bays and harbors. We met him among the boats of the small port of Castiglioncello: a well-known tourist and seaside resort near Livorno. Usually shy and suspicious, because often the object of predatory fish hunting, in this case he let himself be approached by the diver's camera who took the opportunity to make a close encounter.

Warty crab - Eriphia verrucosa

Eriphia verrucosa (Forskål, 1775),  warty crab or yellow crab is a species of crab, found in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean from Brittany to Mauritania and the Azores. Individual crabs have been caught as far north as Cornwall. ...

Purple Starfish

The Purple Starfish, is a species of starfish from the East Atlantic (from mainland Portugal and the Azores down to the Gulf of Guinea) and the Mediterranean Sea. It has a big variation in colour (from red to orange) and may present brown spots. The central disc is small, covered by irregular plates, and the arms are thinner near the central disc. Each arm has lines of respiratory papillae. It can reach 40 cm in diameter.

Mystery blenny - Parablennius incognitus

Mediterranean blenny blenny is one of the most common and easy to meet fish in the Mediterranean Sea, it belongs to the Blennidae family, Blennidae, and is an endemic species of our seas. Mystery blenny Parablennius incognitus Bavosa mediterranea www.intotheblue.it ...

Volcanic spring

They are often hot springs rich in mineral salts with varying temperatures. These thermal waters originate from the groundwater which, descending in depth, meet the hot rocks or are due to the condensation of the steam generated by the encounter of the water with the hot rocks.

Cushion coral - Cladocora caespitosa

Finding cushion coral Madrepora Cladocora caespitosa is always a pleasant surprise, especially while snorkeling or during a free diving, because it means diving in a few meters deep and therefore close to the coast. ...

Bluefish

The bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as tailor in Australia and New Zeeland elf and shad in South Africa. It is a popular gamefish and food fish.

Spotted sea hare

The Spotted sea hare, Aplysia dactylomela, is a species of large sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod in the family Aplysiidae, the sea hares. As traditionally defined, this species of sea hare was cosmopolitan, being found in almost all tropical and warm temperate seas, including the Mediterranean Sea where first seen in 2002 and likely self-established due to increasing temperatures.

Green wrasse - Labrus viridis

Green wrasse usually lives on rocky bottoms and Oceanic posidonia at a depth of 10 to 15 meters, where it finds its ideal habitat. This fish can live well even around 45/50 meters but it is rarely found in shallow waters. In this video we see it in a very few meters of depth ...

Mediterranean Parrotfish

The Mediterranean parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense) is a species of parrotfish found at depths up to 50 m along rocky shores in the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic, from Portugal south to Senegal. It is generally common, but uncommon or rare (locally even absent) in the northwestern Mediterranean and in the Adriatic Sea.

Young sea bass

Sea bass is one of the most curious fish of the Mediterranean Sea, the freediving divers who exploit this characteristic of this species to catch it are well aware of it. When the sea bass ...

Bearded fireworm

Hermodice carunculata, the bearded fireworm, is a type of marine bristleworm belonging to the Amphinomidae family, native to the tropical Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Bearded fireworms are usually 15 centimetres in average length, but can reach up to 30 centimetres. The bearded fireworm is a slow creature, and is not considered a threat to humans unless touched by careless swimmers. The bristles, when flared, can penetrate human skin, injecting a powerful neurotoxin and producing intense irritation and a painful burning sensation around the area of contact.

Pantelleria Mediterranean black pearl

Pantelleria is an Italian island and comune in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, 100 km southwest of Sicily and 60 km east of the Tunisian coast. On clear days Tunisia is visible from the island. Administratively Pantelleria's comune belongs to the Sicilian province of Trapani.