February 26th, 2009 
National Geographic is advertising “Into the Abyss” with a website that includes some sweet pelagic wallpaper, like this Atolla sp. medusa that now adorns my laptop. The previous subsea landscape from Antarctica was enduring. It lasted a full three months, but the close-ups of Celebes Sea zooplankton are tough to beat.
“Into the Abyss” follows a team of scientists on a NOAA funded expedition in 2007, including Dr. Larry Madin from Wood’s Hole and photographer Dr. Emory Kristof, as they attempt the first-ever descent into the South Philippines Celebes Sea using a remotely operated vehicle. An entourage of heavily armed Philippine Navy Seals guards the team en route. The episode premieres March 14 at 8 pm.
Learn more about Inner Space of the Celebes Sea Expedition at the Ocean Explorer website.
Cool. Dr. Kristof is speaking in Sarasota, FL on Monday, 3/2. Here’s hoping he brings some sneak peeks of this deep sea imagery.
Is that lighting real? Do they bioluminesce in blue and red with such clear delineation? That’s pretty rad if so.
I swear – everyday I come here I see something that makes me want to yell “CGI.”
Will the wonders never cease?
The lighting is indeed surreal. I’m inclined to think the blue color may be a reflection of the ROV lights, but the red color is true. From the expedition website:
“red color is common among mesopelagic jellies because it isn’t visible in the perpetually dark water, yet it masks any bioluminescence emitted by prey inside the pigmented predator’s gut.”
Either way…still a feat of photography!
Simply gorgeous.
That is awesome! Nice photo!
That is so awesome, that photo is really cool, and it doesn’t look very real at all. I had no idea that Jelly fish had such vibrant colors, I always thought that they were see through, and like a white color.