Alexander Semenov is a Russian marine biologist who specializes in invertebrates and often dives in harsh conditions. He is also a professional photographer mostly interested in scientific macrophotography in natural environments. During one of his recent dives under the ice in the White Sea in Russia, Semenov recorded a rarely seen creature known as the sea angel. The high-quality footage reveals the tiny sea slug’s ethereal beauty as well as Semenov’s incredible camera skills.

Video credit: Alexander Semenov

Semenov shared the following information about sea angels:

“Sea angels are beautiful and mysterious creatures. These cold-water pteropod mollusks are among the most studied objects in neurobiology, but at the same time little is known about their life cycle. At some point they suddenly appear under an ice cap covering the sea, and in a few weeks there are so many that in one cubic meter of water column there can be up to 500 sea angels! With their size of 3-5 cm it is quite a spectacular sight.”

So far, no one has figured out how to track the life of a tiny angel in the Arctic seas all year round to find out where they are going after they emerge into surface waters to mate and feed. Nevertheless, judging by these amazing photographs we are quite positive that Semenov will do the feat one day.

Image credit: Alexander Semenov Image credit: Alexander Semenov Image credit: Alexander Semenov

Here’s a longer version of the video about the sea angel:

Semenov doesn’t only photograph sea angels, but also a myriad of other sea creatures that are equally breathtaking. Some of them are included below (you can find more of them on his Flickr profile).

Image credit: Alexander Semenov Image credit: Alexander Semenov Image credit: Alexander Semenov Image credit: Alexander Semenov Image credit: Alexander Semenov Image credit: Alexander Semenov Image credit: Alexander Semenov Image credit: Alexander Semenov