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Divers exploring the waters around the Princes' Islands, a cluster of islands in the Sea of Marmara near Istanbul, Türkiye, recorded a wide range of marine life during recent dives, including a nudibranch with a body lined in blue and orange moving across an algae-covered rock.
A purple sea urchin sits among green algae on the rocky seabed. Its presence adds to the broader mix of invertebrates recorded around the dive sites, alongside the fish and crustaceans divers say they see more often there.
A starfish spreads its arms across a rock face dotted with sponges and algae, part of the smaller marine life that fills the spaces between larger predators recorded during the same dives around the islands.
A small fish swims alone against a backdrop of green algae, one of many fish species moving through the water column at the dive points scattered around the Princes Islands.
A blenny peers out from a crevice, its feathery head tentacles raised above a spotted body.
Divers say fish like this one are a regular presence among the rocks that line the islands' underwater terrain.
A scorpionfish rests camouflaged against algae-covered rock, its mottled yellow and brown skin blending into the surrounding growth.
Karail says scorpionfish remain among the most consistently observed species on dives in the area.
A goby lies still on a bed of shell fragments and sand, its speckled body barely distinguishable from the seabed around it.
Species like this make up part of the wider catalog of marine life that divers continue to record near the islands.
A hermit crab shelters inside a borrowed shell, its red legs extending toward the camera.
Karail says encounters with hermit crabs and other crustaceans remain steady across the different dive points around the islands.
A cluster of spiral egg cases sits fixed to the rock, believed to belong to a mollusc species living in the area.
Divers say signs of reproduction like this point to breeding activity continuing among several species in the same waters.
A crab grips the rocks with patterned claws, its shell blending into the surrounding coral and algae.
Crabs are among the crustaceans divers say they continue to encounter regularly on dives around the Princes Islands.
A reddish rockfish peers out from a dark crevice, its large eye catching the light. Karail says fish with this kind of coloring are part of the broader range of species that have become more visible in recent dives.
As the dive ends, a green crab raises its claws near the seabed.
Karail says the changes divers observe extend across the food chain, adds that documenting underwater life is a responsibility to future generations, and warns that waste and human activity continue to threaten the sea's future.
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