Andrea Cirivasi

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. ...

Galathea - Galathea squamifera

We are in one of the many underwater caves of the Mediterranean Sea where the colors of the red coral, Corallium rubrum and Yellow cluster anemone, Parazoanthus-axinellae, explode in a splendid show that we can only find in caves. However, the caves are also the ideal habitat for many species of crustaceans such as the Galathea, Galathea squamifera, and the cave crab, Herbstia condyliata. ...

Dotted sea slug - Peltodoris atromaculata

In this dive we met one of the many nudibranchs (sea snails) that populate our sea, Peltodoris atromaculata - Dotted sea slug very similar to the Jorunna funebris (Dotted nudibranch), also called Sea cow or Leopard snail. Peltodoris atromaculata Dotted sea slug Vacchetta di mare intotheblue.it ...

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. ...

Leopard-spotted goby - Thorogobius ephippiatus

In these two dives we met the Leopard Goby (Thorogobius ephippiatus) a sea fish belonging to the Gobidae family. In the first we are on a 45 meter seabed made up of coral reefs that rise from a sandy bottom, in the second we are on a patch full of gorgonians but isolated in a bottom of mud and debris at a depth of about 52/53 meters ...

Flying into the blue - Sea hare

Sea hare, Aplysia depilans, is a gastropod mollusk typical of the Mediterranean Sea; she is a sea snail but in this video we see her swimming in the blue almost like flying and we think she is anything but a snail. Sea hare Aplysia depilans Lepre di mare Ballerina spagnola. ...

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 ...

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. ...

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. ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ?! ...

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. ...

Ctenofora - Cestus veneris - Venus girdle

Belt of Venus or girdle of Venus (Cestum veneris Lesueur, 1813) is a species belonging to the phylum Ctenophora, the only species of the genus Cestum. Ctenophora Cestus veneris Venus girdle www.intotheblue.it ...

Effects of trawling

In this dive made some time ago on a depth ranging from 40 to 50 meters deep we filmed the usual ghost nets lost close to a cliff at a distance of about 5 miles from the coast. We spent almost the entire dive on the rocks that despite the conditions seemed quite vital, ...

Marine green alga - Codium Bursa

We are in winter and in this video we see how the Green ball alga Codium bursa seems to thrive in the first meters of water compared to other species of algae and marine organisms. Despite the external temperature of about ...

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 ...

Zebra sea bream - Diplodus cervinus

Finding Diplodus cervinus, Zebra sea bream, in the lower Ligurian Sea (or upper Tyrrhenian Sea) is a rather rare event and I would say very unusual, almost exceptional. ...

Sea urchin reproduction

Also this summer we met some sea urchins all piled in one place. We therefore think we have filmed again the reproduction of  Sphaerechinus granularis. Like other echinoderms, sea urchins reproduce in the summer ...

Flathead grey mullet - Mugil cephalus

In this video we see one of the mullet or mullet species Flathead gray mullet, Mugil cephalus, more common in the Mediterraneoan Sea. This fish usually lives in flocks consisting of numerous individuals. It is a gregarious species and a prey ...

Ostreopsis ovata and Caulerpa racemosa

While I was trying to film some sea anemones Anemonia sulcata and Actinia equina, I found a toxic alga: Ostreopsis ovata, and an alien alga: Caulerpa in clusters, Caulerpa racemosa. ...

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. ...

Diving in Posidonia

Diving in Posidonia can make you think of a boring dive in which it is difficult to find fish and marine organisms. Sometimes this is certainly the case but the Poseidonia oceanica in the Mediterranean Sea is actually a safe haven and a nursery ...

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. ...

Basket star Astrospartus mediterraneus

It looks like a seaweed, a coral, a gorgonian but in reality it is a starfish. We are talking about the Basket starfish, Astrospartus mediterraneus. This starfish lives in close contact with the gorgonians, ...

Golden anemone - Condylactis aurantiaca

Meeting Golden anemone, Condylactis aurantiaca, is always a beautiful event. This anemone also known as sand actinia or sand anemone, lives throughout the Mediterranean Sea and is not always ...

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 ...

Seabass hunting

Snorkeling among swimmers in summer, preferably in the shallow waters of the rocky and jagged coast, it is easy to meet the sea bass on the hunt. European sea bass or Sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, is a salt and brackish water fish of the Moronidae family ...

Brown meagre (Sciaena umbra)

Brown meagre is one of the most beautiful fish in the Mediterranean Sea. This fish of the Sciaenidae family lives in the rocky bottoms full of holes and craves ...

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 ...

The prey of the Octopus

Continue the video series on the Octopus and its behavior. We are on a bed of rock and debris at a depth of about 52 meters. Exploring the seabed we encountered an octopus at the entrance to its hole ...

Octopus and Grouper

Octopus and Grouper, or the eternal struggle between prey and predator. In the case of this encounter it is difficult to define who really is the prey and who the predator. In the video we made, below the coast and a few meters deep ...