Two north-east scuba divers have won national praise after capturing some stunning images – both above and under the water.
The pictures, of a diver surrounded by snow in a Highlands sea loch, and an alien-like sea slug taken off the coast of
Macduff, were commended in the British Sub-Aqua Club’s (BSAC) nationwide Great British Diving photo competition.
The dramatic image of the diver at Loch Duich with snow on the Glen Sheil mountains behind was taken by mechanic Stuart Duncan 42, from Ellon.
And the brightly coloured sea slug photo, which shows detail on a tiny animal no bigger than 4mm long, was taken by former Macduff teacher Chris Rickard, 39.
Mr Rickard, who works at Macduff Marine Aquarium, has now released a gallery of images showing the vast array of sea-life he has encountered diving off the north-east coast.
He said: “There’s so much wildlife in the sea off the coast of Scotland, there are tons of fish, anemones, loads of different species, and when you get up close there is so much macro life, but people don’t realise it’s there.
“Some nudibranchs, which are often called sea slugs, range from 20cm down to only 1mm long and occur in an amazing range of colours and patterns. Some are so small that lots of divers pass over them, they look like tiny white dots on the kelp.
“It’s only when you stop and get in there with a lens that you realise how amazing they are.”
Mr Duncan, a mechanic, added that his photo showed one of his favourite places to dive.
He said: “It was taken in November and you can see the snow on the Glen Sheil mountains behind.
“Loch Duich is a sea loch and we go there several times a year, we choose it because it’s such a stunning place.”
BSAC is the national governing body for scuba diving and represents more than 30,000 scuba divers across the UK.
Last night, its chief executive Mary Tetley praised the Aberdeenshire divers for their images.
“Stuart and Chris’s photos are both really beautiful and show off two very different aspects of Great British Diving – our superb natural surroundings and wonderful marine life,” she said.
“We are so pleased they entered and hope they will both keep diving and taking great photos for many years to come.”
