Gallery of Glowing Sea Creatures
Queen Angelfish
Photographer Brandi Irwin uses special lighting on night dives to capture otherworldly photos of sea creatures that fluoresce, including fish, coral and sea slugs.
Red and Green
A light similar to a black light plus a special camera filter bring out colors not visible to the naked eye.
Glowing Coral
Many of Irwin's photos are taken in the Caribbean, but she is planning a dive trip in Asian waters this fall.
Anemone Dance
The fluorescing anemones are among the stars of a New York Aquarium show, opening August 5, of Irwin's work.
All coiled up
An octopus peers out from the tangle of its legs. "I will come to the surface with whatever the ocean gives me," Irwin told LiveScience. "It's unpredictable down there."
Frilly Slug
A lettuce sea slug.
Bristle Worm
A bristle worm glows green. Irwin's dives take place on moonlit nights.
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Seahorse Meeting
Two seahorses photographed by Irwin.
Stingray & Shipwreck
Sometimes black and white is more striking. Here, a stingray approaches a shipwreck.
Sunflowers of the Deep
And sometimes the colors are riotous, as with these sunflower-like anemones.
Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.