Joris van Alphen Photography Blog

Who's Our Closest Relative?

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:50:30 +0200

Yesterday I made this photo of a green shore crab Carcinus maenas between transparent sea squirts Ciona intestinalis in the Oosterschelde. Which do you think is more closely related to us?

Although these adult sea squirts, or tunicates, don't consist of much more than translucent sacks with intestines, their larval "tadpole" stage exhibits all characteristics of the chordates. This means that they are actually more closely related to us chordate humans than this crab is!

Schooling Perch in 't Veenmeer

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:05:00 +0200

Probably my favourite time to dive 't Veenmeer is late summer. At this time large numbers of juvenile perch Perca fluviatilis form schools, and to swim along them in the evening sunlight, hearing only the sound of your own breathing, is the most peaceful and relaxing experience.

Bleaks and Water Lilies in the River Yonne

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:00:11 +0200

Welcome to the gloomy yet beautiful world of the juvenile Bleak Alburnus alburnus. Here, a forest of water lily stems makes its way up from the murky riverbed all the way to the surface, and the otherwise bright sunlight is reduced to a distant glow, as it seeps in through a roof of large, floating lily pads.

Upcoming Exhibition at Tergooiziekenhuizen

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 14:47:09 +0200

I have an exhibition of my photography planned at the Tergooiziekenhuizen (Tergooi Hospitals), location Blaricum, the Neterlands, from October 29 to December 30, 2010. More details follow.

Carnival of the Blue No. 38

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:08:22 +0200

The July edition of Carnival of the Blue, a monthly synthesis of the best of ocean blogging, is up. Check it out.

Pinched by a Lobster

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 07:17:10 +0200

Someone was pinching my arm during one of the dives this weekend in Zeeland, so I looked over my shoulder to find this large, clawed creature: a European lobster Homarus gammarus.

Mating Common Cuttlefish

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:46:56 +0200

Not long after my previous attempt to witness Common cuttlefish mating, I joined my friends Jelmer and Floor in Zeeland for a second chance, and what turned out to be one of the most beautiful dives I've ever made.

The Backyard

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 11:22:55 +0200

Every year when the water temperature reaches 12 degrees Celsius, several cephalopod species start to arrive in the shallow waters of the Oosterschelde (Eastern Scheldt), an estuary in the south of the Netherlands: the reproductive season has arrived. Especially the spawning of the Common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis is, by all accounts, a spectacular event to witness.

Killer Whale Spotting in the Wadden Sea

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:38:28 +0200

Today I saw a killer whale for the first time, and it was in the last place where I would have expected it: the Wadden Sea, the Netherlands!