Urban Marine Wildlife

For the last few years I have been developing a portfolio of underwater images which show the rich UK marine life we are lucky to have in close proximity to human populations. Coastal artificial structures can provide a fantastic habitat for marine life to colonise. These urban marine environments are easily overlooked or difficult to access but can support a surprising amount of marine species in some very unexpected places! For example, quay walls, piers and pontoons can be colonised by diverse, colourful  and sometimes rare marine flora and fauna just metres away from bustling industrial ports, busy harbours or waterside offices. Despite working professionally in marine ecology I have been surprised at how rich these areas can be with highlights including delicate peacock worm communities on the side of piers, colourful mussel and sponge communities on pontoons and dense juvenile jellyfish aggregations next to huge ships in docks. It was great news to find out that ones of these images of a spider crab at Swanage Pier was 'highly commended' in the 2020 Underwater Photographer of the Year in the 'Living Together' category.