Slugs and Snails

Mark Webster · Issue 62, Sep/Oct 2011 · pp. 50–55

Products mentioned: Nikon F90X, Nikon D300, Subal housing, Subal ND2, Nikkor 105mm micro lens, Sea & Sea YS50 flash gun, Inon wet lens, Inon Quad flash, Subtronic Mini flash guns, 10-17mm FE lens, 2x teleconverter

Most underwater photographers are internet savvy (or you would not be reading UWP!) and are likely be familiar with the website Dive Photo Guide which is full of useful news and tips. One series of articles I enjoyed reading there is by Mike Bartick extolling the attractions of the nudibranch population on his local Californian dive sites. He also made a visit to Scotland and seemed surprised to find healthy populations of similar species there. So, I felt it was a good prompt to make an expose of the nudibranchs and some other slug varieties and the technical challenges for underwater photographers visiting Cornwall or the south coast of the UK. This group of invertebrates includes some of the most exotic and colourful creatures to be found in British waters and they compare well with their tropical cousins. However they are often missed as most are of “macro” size, but once you have sl…