Spanish Dancer 1

Underwater Photography by Jay Torborg

"Spanish Dancer #1"

Like many ocean creatures, the Spanish Dancer (Hexabranchus sanguineus) looks different at night. This nighttime photo shows how the Spanish Dancers swims by rhythmically flexing its body and undulating its mantle. A nudibranch , the Spanish Dancer and its elaborate rose-like egg mass both contain poisons derived from the sponges it eats.

Photographed at night in about 35ft of water near the Mauna Lani Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Photographed with a Nikon N90s in a Sea&Sea NX90 housing with two Ikelite 200 strobes. Nikon 60mm f2.8 macro lens. Fuji Provia 100F transparency film scanned with a Nikon LS-2000.