Shane Gross's Image

Shane had looked for the Bahama cavefish many times since his first encounter, and found this one in the cold, clear depths of the marine cavern known as the Sapphire Blue Hole. The pool was tricky to reach, especially with heavy kit – it was encircled by a six-metre cliff. ‘I tied a rope to a tree and lowered my camera and diving gear,’ he says. ‘Then, I jumped!’

The Bahama cavefish, as its name suggests, lives only in the Bahamas in a dozen or so inland blue holes and caves, connected below ground to the sea. It moves between upper fresh water and salt water deeper down, feeding on small invertebrates such as shrimp. Almost blind, it’s rarely seen near the surface, living in the dark depths where it uses its sensory pores to navigate.