Inner Planetary Imaging

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Inner Planetary Imaging

Documenting the animals and landscapes of the underwater world, from open ocean to the caves

13/03/2026

A self-portrait in Death Arrow Passage, a deep saltwater section running parallel to the B Tunnel near Cenote Mayan Blue. The name refers to a tragic incident involving confusion over the direction to the nearest exit (as indicated by the triangular line arrow markers).

09/03/2026

From a shallow pool a small hole leads directly into the first chamber of the cueva de golondrinas (cave of swallows), with a ceiling of stalactites to rival the most ornate cathedral.

06/03/2026

The massive Tunnel B of the Mayan blue section of el sistema Ox Bel Ha. We are below the halocline at 24-m depth in salt water, which casts a pale blue shade onto the white limestone walls.

02/03/2026

A self portrait in the deep (24-m) saltwater section known as ‘the tunnel’ in the Ox Bel Ha system. A field of large stalagmites have grown up from the floor over the eons prior to the Caribbean sea flooding the cave at the end of the last Ice Age around 8000 years ago.

01/03/2026

A Scalloped hammerhead makes a close pass overhead. It wasn’t until the 12th and final dive at the hammer hotspots of Darwin and Wolf Islands that I worked out how to have a shark come close enough (within a metre) for a decent shot in the murky conditions. They are quite skittish and do not like bubbles so I watched a small fever of sharks circling over a boulder field at about 15-metres depth. I hid behind a larger rock and held my breath and this guy was right on top of me before he realised I was there. Thanks buddy!

26/02/2026

Another self portrait in the deeper (24-m) saltwater section of the Ox Bel Ha cave system, a couple of jumps from the main line into the aptly named ‘tunnel’. I think this shot provides a sense of the scale and awe of diving in large underwater caves. Thanks to .b.burgess for lighting me up from behind.

25/02/2026

The Red-lipped batfish (Ogcocephalus darwini), endemic to the Galapagos Islands and coastal Ecuador, is a truly bizarre critter. About the size of your hand, its fins have evolved into limbs that enable it to walk along the seafloor. It hunts for small fish and crustaceans using suction feeding to hoover up prey, and can change body colour to blend into the background coral and has evolved a specialised fin ray that extends outward on top of its head, the tip of which emits a bright light to lure prey to its mouth in the dark. We dived deep below the thermocline into brisk 18 degree C water off Isla Fernandina in search of this bizarro critter and were rewarded with sightings of two individuals on the seafloor at 32-metres depth.

24/02/2026

I have been drawn to this passage for a few years. I see it as the nave of some ancient flooded cathedral with its sheer volume and fluted columnar walls, and the banks of an ancient underground river are clearly seen a metre from the floor. This passage is in the deep (24-m) saltwater section of the Ox Bel Ha cave system, since 2023 designated as the world’s longest underwater cave at a length of 496 km. We entered from Jailhouse cenote and jumped down through the halocline into a large tunnel leading to the site. This cave does not have flow and eons of fine clay silt has settled on the floor. To avoid a silt out we gently placed a tripod at the entrance to the nave and set the camera in place to shoot 30-shot bursts. Two large video lights were duct-taped together to form a 25,000 lumen wide angle beam which dive buddy .b.burgess used to light me from behind. Unlike previous attempts, where the process of placing the lights on the floor stirred up significant silt, this guerrilla-style approach yielded a much cleaner image.

22/02/2026

First cave shoot of the trip about 35 minutes from the entrance to Nohoch Nah Chich cave system on Parkers line. This is a selfie with camera mounted on the tripod and several lights behind the background speliothems plus .b.burgess shining his primary light up my butt.

19/02/2026

A curious sea turtle checks out my dome port on the first day of diving off Cape Marshall in the Galapagos Islands on the Pingüino Explorer.

08/08/2025

Claire trains her primary light on a root system in the Dos Pisos cave south of Tulum. These caves are shallow (5m) and the trees from the jungle above break through the roof to form massive root systems in the fresh water. .CONTEST

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Lismore, NSW
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