really, really deep

April 26, 2007 3:03 PM

The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss, online gallery. Revealing nature's oddest and most mesmerizing creatures in crystalline detail; color photographs of deep ocean species, some photographed for the first time. An online companion to the book by Claire Nouvian. Deep-sea photography.
posted by nickyskye (36 comments total)

Previously and the wonderfully titled Mefi That shit is deep post.
posted by nickyskye at 3:04 PM on April 26, 2007

as I said in the previous wonderfully titled post, the deep ocean scares the living bejeesus out of me. If I have nightmares of being pursued by hideous monsters, they always look like some translucent slimy milk white horror from the deep ocean.
posted by shmegegge at 3:12 PM on April 26, 2007

A combination of beautiful and damn scary. Sometimes in the same photos.
posted by Foosnark at 3:12 PM on April 26, 2007

Stop talking to them. They'll go and tell their boss. Let the Old Ones sleep.

Ai ftagn.
posted by daq at 3:14 PM on April 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

The book is apparently well written, not just a coffee table (although in that format).
posted by stbalbach at 3:14 PM on April 26, 2007

I kneel and worship at thy feet for linking this to my door....
posted by infini at 3:17 PM on April 26, 2007

Thanks for the link. I expect the Dumbo Squid to appear in an animated movie anytime now.
posted by Staggering Jack at 3:32 PM on April 26, 2007

er...Dumbo Octopus.
posted by Staggering Jack at 3:34 PM on April 26, 2007

These are gorgeous photos. Thanks!
posted by mykescipark at 3:52 PM on April 26, 2007

Just beautiful..

I'm amazed at how much color these creatures have in a world utterly devoid of such, at least to our eyes.

Great stuff
posted by elendil71 at 4:01 PM on April 26, 2007

Very cool nickyskye! Reminded me of this.
posted by vronsky at 4:02 PM on April 26, 2007

Thank you for posting that. Those were some really great shots. Though, some of them just beg to be turned into LOLcats.
posted by munchingzombie at 4:16 PM on April 26, 2007

Wow... some of those images creep the hell out of me. I found it difficult to even look at some of them.

At the same time, wow, those are really amazing photographs.

They just make my skin crawl, that's all...
posted by MythMaker at 4:30 PM on April 26, 2007

Made me think of this item from Werner Herzog's Minnesota Declaration:

12. Life in the oceans must be sheer hell. A vast, merciless hell of permanent and immediate danger. So much of a hell that during evolution some species - including man - crawled, fled onto some small continents of solid land, where the Lessons of Darkness continue.

posted by treepour at 4:32 PM on April 26, 2007

Fantastic, thanks nickyskye.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 4:33 PM on April 26, 2007

vronsky, ah Van Morrison, *sigh*. Thanks for that.

munchingzombie, this one definitely needs to speak LolKitteh: i can haz shrinkij, it's teh cold, i swearz.

ooh, treepour, now *that's* deep.
posted by nickyskye at 4:43 PM on April 26, 2007

Staggering Jack, the Dumbo Octopus already has its own cartoon.
posted by QuietDesperation at 4:43 PM on April 26, 2007

MOAR PLZ.
posted by po at 5:25 PM on April 26, 2007

God made these things?
posted by davebush at 6:02 PM on April 26, 2007

God made these things?
posted by davebush at 9:02 PM on April 26

Even God isn't dumb enough to go down that far.

I love how this Mick Jagger impersonating abomination is simply labeled "Unidentified Species".
posted by Pastabagel at 6:25 PM on April 26, 2007

I'm pretty sure they're Cthulu's creations.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:33 PM on April 26, 2007

"i can haz shrinkij..."

Now that was funny! Naughty, naughty nicky;)
posted by vronsky at 6:39 PM on April 26, 2007

How wonderful to have two of my loves - Werner Herzog & deep-sea-critters - come together so brilliantly in one single thread!

(freebie Herzog film festival starting shortly at the Art Gallery of NSW - woohoo!)
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:50 PM on April 26, 2007

God made these things?

Benthocodon burning bright,
In deep fathoms of the night -
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy form so tentacly?
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:51 PM on April 26, 2007 [6 favorites]

wah wah ubu sahib, laa jawaab
posted by infini at 6:54 PM on April 26, 2007

I expect the Dumbo Squid to appear in an animated movie anytime now.

Hey! You guys made me ink.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 7:12 PM on April 26, 2007

And that was brilliant UbuRoivas. If we were at a bar, and you said something that clever, I would buy the drinks for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, we are on the internet, so I just feebly clicked the favourite button.
posted by vronsky at 7:16 PM on April 26, 2007

Great photos, thanks!
posted by marxchivist at 7:21 PM on April 26, 2007

vronsky: that's ok - I'll take a raincheck on the drinks :)
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:51 PM on April 26, 2007

Nice one Ubu. You, vronsky and all thread commenters, cheers!

The "unidentified species" is actually the ghost of a dockside hooker that had a thing for old salts and should have been labelled NSFW.
posted by nickyskye at 8:48 PM on April 26, 2007

Now stop it nickyskye, you just made beer come out my nose!
posted by vronsky at 9:14 PM on April 26, 2007

I see it as the Marlene Dietrich character in "Witness For the Prosecution" -"You wanna kiss me, ducky?"
posted by vronsky at 9:22 PM on April 26, 2007

Not the Rolling Stones?
posted by five fresh fish at 9:33 PM on April 26, 2007

Ok, ok, it's a Mick Jagger bio-engineering mishap that escaped the test tube. But it's still NSFW.
posted by nickyskye at 10:19 PM on April 26, 2007

We may have to install a warp drive, but I think we've found the vessel that will take us to Gliese 581C.
posted by rob511 at 10:56 PM on April 26, 2007

Hey! You guys made me ink.

You know, I bet if octopi drew humans, they'd put our mouths right in our torso to make us look cuter.
posted by Citizen Premier at 3:14 PM on April 27, 2007