These spectacular photographs capture the colour and beauty of the UK’s marine wildlife

What do you think is in this photograph? A kaleidoscope? A really, really wavy garm? An immersive art show, perhaps? No. None of those. In reality, it’s a painted goby (a tiny fish) nestled in the shell of a dead sea urchin. The marvels of natural world, eh?

One of the most astonishing things about this technicolour shot is that it was taken right here in the UK. It features in a gallery of images of British marine wildlife compiled by the Marine Conservation Society to promote SeaSearch, a programme that aims to explore and document the UK’s seas. If the results are this spectacular, then we can really get behind it. You can browse more of the highlights below, like...

This shark on the prowl

This cute bobtail squid

This alien anemone

These two warring crabs 

A lonely starfish

Some squirts, sponges and seaweeds

This very pretty sea slug 

This creepy cuttlefish

This lobster sheltering in a diver’s torch

And this majestic humpback whale

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