{"id":167944,"date":"2025-11-30T17:52:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T17:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/167944\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T17:52:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T17:52:18","slug":"every-dive-offers-extraordinary-encounters-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/167944\/","title":{"rendered":"Every dive offers extraordinary encounters \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">My journey into diving and underwater photography began at 15, when a local dive club hosted a Discover Scuba session in our local pool. I had always been fascinated by the underwater world, and my bedroom was filled with aquariums and books on ocean exploration, but I was unprepared for how instantly scuba diving would captivate me. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The thrill of breathing underwater was soon followed by the challenge of underwater photography after a dive buddy lent me his camera. I was hooked. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Trying to capture an image of the marine world sparked an obsession that grew with every roll of film, eventually inspiring the photographs that shaped Beneath Irish Seas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">People often ask if it\u2019s cold underwater, but thanks to drysuits and modern equipment you rarely feel it, even in winter. Diving can be demanding though. Shifting weather and sea conditions or poor underwater visibility often make photography challenging, but that\u2019s part of the thrill of it. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Beneath the surface lie kelp forests and reefs bursting with colour, sunlit waters and playful seals. Every dive offers encounters with extraordinarily marine life. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"A sun star starfish, off Horn Head. Photograph: Nigel Motyer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/OALBZ3U57BEELKINM7I3B65V6I.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"529\"\/>A sun star starfish, off Horn Head. Photograph: Nigel Motyer <img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Jewel anemone near Valentia Island. Photograph: Nigel Motyer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Z5X2SAWHYFF45COGQ2ZSETF3JA.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"534\"\/>Jewel anemone near Valentia Island. Photograph: Nigel Motyer <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">I\u2019ve dived all over the world, but capturing moments in our own waters for Beneath Irish Seas has been a lifelong pleasure, an opportunity to show just how vibrant and remarkable our coastline is.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-it-article-body__interstitial-link\">[\u00a0<a aria-label=\"Open related story\" class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/environment\/2025\/10\/25\/lough-derg-is-drifting-towards-the-fate-of-lough-neagh-that-once-great-lake-now-all-but-dead\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ella McSweeney: Lough Derg is drifting towards the fate of Lough Neagh, that once great lake now all but deadOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">We put a basking shark on the book\u2019s cover to symbolise how our oceans can recover if we allow them to. Ireland now hosts the most important population of this once-overfished giant. Beneath Irish Seas aims to reveal this hidden world so that, by seeing it, we may all care to safeguard it just a little more.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Male cuckoo wrasse near Rathlin. Photograph: Nigel Motyer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/5BDISI236RHHRF2F46X6UYCQHA.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"531\"\/>Male cuckoo wrasse near Rathlin. Photograph: Nigel Motyer <img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Bloody henry starfish near the Aran Islands. Photograph: Nigel Motyer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/H7OJYR2FZ5B4BIBNSR4JMMQW6E.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"535\"\/>Bloody henry starfish near the Aran Islands. Photograph: Nigel Motyer <img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"A compass jellyfish near Bills Rocks. Photograph: Nigel Motyer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/QQC6GYYDVBC3RMBCDTZJKTSV7I.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"531\"\/>A compass jellyfish near Bills Rocks. Photograph: Nigel Motyer <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Beneath Irish Seas: The Hidden Wonders of Ireland\u2019s Amazing Marine Life by Nigel Motyer is published by Merrion Press<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Anemone and a starfish with an egg.  Photograph: Nigel Motyer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/67GCPIILSJAR5KARQAFYV7CKY4.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"517\"\/>Anemone and a starfish with an egg.  Photograph: Nigel Motyer <img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"A basking shark off Co Clare. Photograph: Nigel Motyer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/K4T56COC3RAX5PS6PCXFCYRJDQ.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"600\"\/>A basking shark off Co Clare. Photograph: Nigel Motyer <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My journey into diving and underwater photography began at 15, when a local dive club hosted a Discover&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,851,308,93,61,60,976],"class_list":{"0":"post-167944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-biodiversity","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-weekendreview"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}