Andrea Cirivasi

Goldblotch grouper Epinephelus costae Cernia dorata intotheblue.it-2025-09-26-20h53m02s627-b
7
04:12

Goldblotch grouper

Goldblotch grouper, Epinephelus costae is a common grouper species found in the southern Mediterranean Sea. It's usually found from Rome onward, where it's also called "Dotto" (literally, "Doctor") for its proverbial cunning ...
im Meeting with dolphins August 15th 2025 Ferragosto 2025 Incontro con i delfini www.intotheblue.it-2025-08-17-15h10m17s842
16
18:42

Dolphins Encounter

Encountering dolphins in our seas is fairly easy, but it's one thing to spot them while sailing or see them leaping in the distance, and quite another to find them "playing under the boat", almost touching them. For us, August 15th has become a regular event. The video really was actually taken on August 16th, about 7-8 miles off the Livorno coast ...
Golden anemone Condylactis aurantiaca-2025-08-10-17h25m59s154
14
03:05

Golden anemone Condylactis aurantiaca

Golden anemone, Condylactis aurantiaca, or sand anemone, is one of the most beautiful anemones endemic to the Mediterranean Sea, both for the colorful arms and the large size it can sometimes reach. On this dive in early August 2025, we are exploring rocky and coralligenous walls ranging from a depth of 36 to a maximum of 42 meters ...
Maja squinado – Granseola o Grancevola -s620
15
11:06

European spider crab - Maja squinado

European spider crab, Maja squinado (spiny spider crab, or spinous spider crab). This crustacean of the Majidae family was very common about thirty years ago, and specimens like the one we see in the video were very easy to find in the intertidal tidal pools, provided they had plenty of rocks to hide in and algae to grow on their backs to camouflage them from predators. ...
Blue damselfish Chromis chromis Castagnole blu intotheblue.it_T-2025-07-01-18h52m22s877
16
07:00

Blue damselfish

Even in this summer of 2025, like every summer, we witness the birth and growth of the Black Damselfish, Chromis chromis, the only one of its kind Pomacentridi - Pomacentridae - in the Mediterranean Sea. In these sequences we see it in its shining electric blue livery, when the little fish are still small, a few weeks after the hatching ...
Blue spiny starfish Coscinasterias tenuispina Stella marina variabile_intotheblue.it-2025-04-12-20h38m23s818
10
01:48

Blue spiny starfish

Coscinasterias tenuispina, Variable starfish or Spiny starfish is an echinoderm very common in the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the most common starfish in the "Mare nostrum" and I would also say one of the most fascinating. Usually Echinoderms (sea urchins and starfish) have a pentaray symmetry. This species is indeed variable! ...
Reproduction – Peltodoris atromaculata – Riproduzione – www.intotheblue.it -UOVA-EGGS-2025-03-23-19h12m14s485
10
21:33

Peltodoris atromaculata Reproduction

When we explore our underwater reefs we are often amazed by the number of species that we find in a few square meters and as in this case even in a few square centimeters. We have said it many times that biodiversity makes a habitat and an ecosystem more stable, solid and long-lasting. Often we fail to realize the quantity of different species that live next to each other and obviously it is almost impossible to know and recognize them all.
Branched sponge Spugna alberello Spugna ramificata Axinella-2025-03-14-21h06m12s463
14
07:41

Tree Sponge or Branched Sponge - Axinella polypoides

In this dive on a seabed of about 40-42 meters deep we encountered the Tree Sponge or Branched Sponge, Axinella polypoides, a sponge typical of the Mediterranean Sea that develops vertically often with various branches almost like a coral. Branched sponge Spugna alberello Spugna ramificata Axinella intotheblue.it ...
Immersione tra le gorgonie-2025-03-08-21h19m37s582
18
24:30

Diving among gorgonians II

Diving in this reef completely covered with branches of red Gorgonia up to two meters high is always fascinating. Despite the poor visibility our torches manage to bring out all the colors of the underwater world. They range from the scarlet red of the Paramuricea clavata, to the yellow of the countless sponges and the arazoanthus axinellae, the sea daisy, to the red of the Corallium rubrum and the red scorpionfish. The pale pink ...
Zero visibility – Basket star-2025-03-01-16h01m34s711
13
19:05

Zero visibility - Basket star - Astrospartus mediterraneus

When we dive at depths greater than 40 meters and far from the coast, about 7.5 nautical miles, it is difficult to make predictions about sea conditions such as currents, presence of fish and marine organisms but above all visibility on the bottom. If weather forecasts are now reliable and safe over 24/48 hours, it is practically impossible to predict what will be found on the bottom once immersed.
Marine goldfish – Anthias anthias – Castagnola rossa-2025-02-22-15h46m44s117
12
22:25

Marine goldfish - Anthias anthias

This article and this video are dedicated to the Marine goldfish (Chromis chromis), companion and guardian of our dives over 40 meters deep is lives on coralligenous seabeds and begins to be present from 30 meters deep onwards. However, it can be found up to 200 meters and in our scuba dives it is practically omnipresent.
T_Leopard-spotted goby Thorogobius ephippiatus Ghiozzo leopardo-2025-01-26-17h32m44s059
12
04:52

Ghiozzo leopardo

Il Ghiozzo leopardo, Thorogobius ephippiatus, è un pesce schivo e timido ed è considerata una specie rara da incontrare per i subacquei. Noi lo troviamo abbastanza spesso nei fondali di coralligeno che variano da 38 ai 42 metri di profondità come in questo caso. Probabilmente viene considerato raro perché vive in anfratti e buche abbastanza inaccessibili alle telecamere e quindi è proprio difficile da vedere.. ...
Biodiversity – Biodiversità – www.intotheblue.it-2025-01-11-15h39m18s489
21
13:24

Biodiversity

We are on an isolated patch of rock and coralligenous about 7.5 miles from the coast; the seabed varies from 49 to 52 meters, the area to explore has a surface area of ​​about a couple of basketball courts (about 600 square meters X 2). All around a sea of ​​mud and a mixture of mud/sand separates us from the main submerged reef 400/500 meters away, always on the bathymetric of 50 meters.
Mediterranean Red Starfish Echinaster sepositus Stella marina rossa-2025-01-03-14h27m38s775
14
03:30

Red Starfish

The red starfish in this video - Echinaster sepositus - was filmed on a seabed of about 5 meters deep while free-diving, in the waters of the beautiful "Secche di Vada". We often visit these areas near the lighthouse for various reasons: the exceptional transparency of the water, the shallow depth, the presence of Posidonia oceanica that despite the frequent anchoring of boats seems to thrive and the distance from the chaotic and crowded coast in summer.
Barrel jellyfish invasion Rhizostoma pulmo Invasione di Polmone di mare www.intotheblue.it-27-16h43m59s467
15
13:18

Barrel jellyfish invasion

The summer of 2024 was the hottest since temperatures have been measured, and it's not just the thermometer and measurement statistics that tell us this. As you can see in the video, this year too there was the usual, now inevitable, proliferation of jellyfish due to the increasingly warm sea temperatures. Barrel jellyfish invasion Rhizostoma pulmo Invasione di Polmone di mare www.intotheblue.it. ...
Relitto – Melania – Wreck – www.intotheblue.it-2024-12-22-17h23m36s762
21
11:39

Melania wreck

Even in this now forgotten summer of 2024 we returned to freedive on the Melania wreck. We often freedive on this wreck since the depth is not prohibitive even for the less trained. The wreck lies on a seabed of maximum 11-12 meters to rise to 9, considering the top of the bow perhaps even 6 meters deep.. ...
T_Moray eel Murena helena Murena mediterranea-2024-10-27-14h13m59s062
14
08:58

Muraena helena

Mediterranean moray eel (Muraena helena Linnaeus, 1758) is a marine fish belonging to the Muraenidae family. In this video we see it on a rather bare corralligious seabed at a depth of about 40-42 meters. As always when we dive to film the various marine species, even if we don't want to, we are forced to document the conditions of our seabed and the health of our Mediterranean Sea ...
T_Brown meagre – Sciaena umbra – Corvina – www.intotheblue.it-2024-10-12-21h24m40s760
14
05:02

Brown Meagre

Brown Meagre (Sciaena umbra) is one of the most beautiful fish in the Mediterranean Sea and in this dive we met two of them on a rocky bottom of about 38 - 42 meters deep. As you can see we managed to get very close without scaring them and they then showed us their beautiful colors and reflections, captured by our torches and cameras.. ...
Cushion coral Cladocora caespitosa Madrepora a ccuscino-2024-10-05-22h12m21s934
20
05:16

Cushion coral - Cladocora caespitosa

Cushion coral, Cladocora caespitosa is a typical madrepore of the Mediterranean Sea, it belongs to the Hexacorallia class and to the Cnidaria phylum., It usually has a brownish, beige or dirty white color, this one in the video is unusually very white, probably because it is "still young". It is a colony of polyps that live in symbiosis with zooxanthellae algae. The polyps form calcium carbonate deposits that form the cells in which they live and that make the madrepore grow in size ...
Night Encounters Gilt-head Bream – Incontri notturni Orata – Sparus aurata – www.intotheblue.it_s471
24
02:44

Night Encounters - Gilt-head bream

At night, most fish slow down their activity, some species sleep, others enter a sort of stasis, others reduce their metabolism to a minimum while remaining alert and vigilant to dangers. We can say that fish actually take micro-sleeps both during the day and during the night.. ...
EP64A4~1
22
33:28

Dusky grouper

Dusky grouper or Mediterranean Grouper is one of the most wanted fish by underwater photographers for the colors of its livery and because as an adult it can reach considerable dimensions, on average over 60 kg in weight, for a length of 1.5 m.
T_Common octopus Octopus vulgaris Polpo comune intotheblue.it-2024-09-04-17h25m56s111
15
03:36

Common octopus

Octopus is considered one of the most intelligent animals that we can encounter in our Mediterranean Sea. As you can see, it is a champion of camouflage, cunning and escape strategies. However, it also has its problems and if once camouflaged it is practically impossible to see even to the most expert eyes, a spoilsport fish like the Serranus scriba (Painted comber) ...
European anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus acciuga alice_s494
16
05:40

Anchovies make a ball

It often happens that anchovies make a ball like in the famous song by Fabrizio De Andrè and Ivano Fossati, except that in this case they are not attacked by the albacore but by saddled breams. As you can see in the video, everything happens in a few moments and this school of anchovies tries to aggregate to escape predators, taking the shape of a large blue ball.. ...
Red gorgonian Gorgonia rossa Paramuricea clavata Sustainable fishing Pesca sostenibile_s230
23
06:43

Sustainable fishing Red gorgonia

In the video you can see a branch of red Gorgonia, Paramuricea clavata, measuring over a meter in length, torn a few days ago from the reef where it was located, lying dying on the muddy seabed. This species and these corals when they manage to reach such dimensions are about a hundred years old. Collecting the coral from the seabed you can still see open and therefore alive polyps.
Cassiopea mediterranea Cotylorhiza tuberculata-Rhizostoma pulmo-Polmone di mare-2024-08-15-17h57m01s469
19
05:15

Mediterranean increasingly warm: record temperatures and jellyfish

We are now facing a real tropicalization of the Mediterranean Sea which is leading to a too rapid and rapid change of this ecosystem, so we are increasingly witnessing an invasion of alien species, explosions of mucilage and toxic algae, a decrease in native fish species, a reduction in fishing and catches and, as can be seen from these images, a proliferation of jellyfish ...
Luce del sole intotheblue.it-2024-08-11-11h48m32s861
15
14:24

Colours of the Mediterranean Sea

Deep sea has an intense blue color. The light that penetrates the water changes its light intensity and its spectral composition by effect of  selective absorption by water of the different wavelengths that make up the visible spectrum. The ultraviolet and infrared stop the first few centimeters of depth, then extinguished the red, orange, yellow, green and purple and blue that reaches greater depths. ...
Diving on the Duckypoo wreck Immersione sul relitto del Duckypoo-2024-07-19-09h28m31s963
25
17:50

Diving on the Duckypoo wreck

After about seven years we returned to dive on the wreck of the Duckypoo plane, an excellent US F4 derived from a Lockheed P-38F, shot down and then sunk just off the coast of Cecina (LI), by German anti-aircraft during a reconnaissance in June 1944, during the Second World War. Diving on the Duckypoo wreck intotheblue.it ....
T_Simbiosi tra paguro e anemone-2024-07-14-08h45m32s985
20
13:22

Symbiosis between hermit crab and anemone

Symbiosis is quite frequent in the underwater world and in recent days we have witnessed one of the most classic forms of symbiosis in our Mediterranean Sea, that between the Hermit Crab (Pagurus bernhardus) and the Hermit Crab Anemone or Actinia (Calliactis parasitica). We are exploring a seabed composed of a coral wall that varies from 46 to 49-50 meters deep ...
Mnemiopsis leidyi-2024-07-09-18h32m25s290
25
08:17

Invasion of the Sea walnut Mnemiopsis leidyi

Also this summer we are witnessing the invasion of the Mnemiopsis leidyi or Sea walnut. This year we are in early July and the sea water is slowly warming up as always in summer. Punctually after a short and intense sea storm we witness an invasion of jellyfish, plastic, tree trunks and branches, various floating debris and as now every year also the Mnemiopsis leidyi, the now infamous Sea walnut. ...
Relitto Genepesca Wreck-2024-05-28-16h58m13s777
18
23:28

Genepesca

First dive of the season is always quite critical. The equipment must be tested: BCD, regulators, scuba, computers, etc. but above all finding assets, aquatic skills and physical condition. In practice it is training to then increase the objectives we try to achieve. For these reasons we try to immerse ourselves ...
Mediterranean lobster Palinurus elephas Aragosta med-2024-05-19-21h03m38s001
21
12:21

Mediterranean lobster

Lobsters are increasingly rare. There are many reasons: a larval life that lasts about 20 years, overfishing, the change of one's habitat due to the usual causes, warming of the waters, tropicalization of the Mediterranean Sea, etc. etc. In this isolated patch at about 52/54 meters deep we found them and some, as can be seen from the video, even large ones.
Do octopuses grow tentacles again-2024-04-20-16h54m29s089
15
11:11

Do octopuses grow tentacles again ?

The answer is yes! and in the video we see how this octopus is growing back its three tentacles in front of its eyes. The octopus is both a predator and a prey and it often happens that when fighting groupers, conger eels, moray eels and other predatory fish, our friend loses one or more of its tentacles, but saves its life by escaping. ...
Discovering new wrecks-2022-07-12-18h00m53s355
15
22:36

Diving on Carmelo Noli' s wreck

Carmelo Noli was a tugboat, now it is one of the many wrecks of the Second World War that we can find in our Mediterranean. We were on this wreck more or less two years ago, intrigued by some reports of grabbing by some local fishermen, which we then saw published in the Notices to Seafarers of 16 May 2012. ...
Diving on Tabarka wreck – Immersione sul relitto del Tabarka – Intotheblue.it-2024-03-18-15h06m39s020
16
42:05

Diving on Tabarka wreck

The history of the Italian motor ship Tabarka (Tabarca in some old files) tells us how many of the wounds caused by the Second World War are unfortunately still open. The Tabarka was part of a convoy of seven ships that left Livorno and headed for Corsica, which headed south, south/west to get around some minefields present in the waters off Livorno and the Secche di Vada area.
Giant Barrel jellyfish – Polmone di mare gigante – Rhizostoma pulmo – www.intotheblue.it-2024-03-15-22h14m33s424
20
07:38

Giant Barrel jellyfish

Barrel jellyfish is a very beautiful jellyfish! and this one in the video is really big, probably the diameter exceeds 50/55 cm, as can be seen from the proportions of the undersigned's hand. It is one of the classic jellyfish of the Mediterranean Sea, perhaps the most common to encounter. Here on intotheblue.it we have published it numerous times.