Art

We 💙 Nudies

Who can resist the beauty of a Nudi? Not California-based citizen image maker Melissa Foo.

Published

9 months ago

July 28, 2023

InDEPTH

Images and text by Melissa Foo. Lede image: A Three-lined Aeolid, Coryphella trilineata, San Diego, CA USA

🎶 Pre-dive Clicklist: Nudibranch by Dafunkus 🎶

**Hypselodoris Melanesica**, *Solomon Islands*

“This sassy-looking nudi, Hypselodoris Melanesica, is my current favorite. I took this picture on a night dive at White Beach in the Solomon Islands. White Beach is the site of a WWII US military equipment dump; this nudibranch was actually perched on wreckage.“

*Spanish Shawl (foreground), **Flabellinopsis iodinea**, San Diego, CA, USA*

*Sandalwood Dorid, **Acanthodoris lutea,** San Diego, CA, USA*

*Clown Dorid, **Triopha catalinae,** San Diego, CA, USA*

“I dive to take photographs. 😀 Taking underwater photos makes me happy.”

*Colorful Dirona, **Dirona picta**, San Diego, CA, USA*

“There are thousands of nudibranch species in every ocean habitat from shallow tidepools to the ocean depths, from tropics to Antarctica, sand flats to shipwrecks. Fun fact, ‘nudibranch’ means ‘naked gills.’ Some species of nudibranchs are butt breathers— their gill plumes are right above their anus. Nudibranchs are hermaphrodites that lay their eggs in beautiful spiral egg ribbons. They also have the most bizarre reproductive habits.“

*Three-color Polycera, **Polycera tricolor,** San Diego, CA USA*

*Spanish Shawl (swimming in water column), **Flabellinopsis iodinea,** California Channel Islands, USA*

“My favorite subject? Nudibranchs and caverns. In know that’s cheating but I can’t decide! I am partial to macro and little critters.”

*Loch’s chromodoris, **Chromodoris lochi,** Solomon Islands*

*Hopkins’ Rose, *Okenia rosacea*, Coronado Islands, Baja California Sur, Mexico*

“Nudies are very challenging to shoot!! Many nudibranchs are tiny (the size of a grain of rice) and often perfectly camouflaged so snapping pics of nudies requires going sloooooowly to spot in them in the first place; then good buoyancy control for steady focus, particularly where they’re silty bottoms.”

One wonderful thing about small critters is that they encourage me to slow down and look closely, no matter where I am.”

*White-speckled Dorid, **Doriopsilla fulva,** San Diego, CA USA*

Upside down *Spotted Dorid, *Triopha maculata*, reflected in the surface of the tide pool above it*. *San Diego, CA USA*

“I just upgraded to a mirrorless setup after years of using a compact camera and am really enjoying learning more about wide angle composition and ambient light. I’m not a land photographer so learning manual settings has been fun and frustrating.

“Honestly, I take photos for myself – it’s a form of meditation! ”

MacFarland’s Chromodorid, **Felimida macfarlandi**

Five Years from now? I’ll be thrilled to keep diving, taking photos, and having more divers appreciate the joy of small critters.

*Gold Lace Nudibranch, **Halgerda terramtuentis,** Maui, HI USA*

Melissa Foo is a recreational diver based in San Diego, California who dabbles in underwater photography, and is a closet nudibranch nerd. She started diving in Taiwan many years ago and has lived and dived in many countries around the world. Melissa is a GUE Fundamentals diver and is contemplating further training if it helps her find more sea slugs. In her day job, she’s a program manager at a technology company. She posts her photos at: Instagram.com/melissa_foo_