And don't miss the mini-doc on Laurent Ballesta's expedition down into the article

 

Quote

 

Scientists are racing to trace deep ocean species before they are lost, with the help of photographers who have a taste for danger.

 

In 2010 four friends, carrying 32kg (71lb) worth of camera equipment, sunk beneath the waves of Sodwana Bay, off the east coast of South Africa. It was then that photographer, Laurent Ballesta stared directly into the eyes of a creature once thought to have died out with the dinosaurs – making him the first diver to photograph a living coelacanth.

 

 

 

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240507-the-deep-ocean-photographer-that-captured-a-living-fossil

 

 

In 2010, Laurent Ballesta photographed a living coelacanth alongside diver, Cédric Gentil (Credit: Laurent Ballesta/Andromede Oceanologie) Laurent Ballesta photographs his dive team while on their expedition deep in the Mediterranean Sea (Credit: Laurent Ballesta/Andromede Oceanologie)

I remember reading about this at the time.  Such a cool story!