As he slowly ascended from a deep dive in the Mediterranean Sea, Laurent noticed what he thought might be two isopods drifting upon a seagull feather, six metres below the surface. This male isopod may have been clinging to a female it hoped to mate with – or to its own shed exoskeleton.
Metallic isopods can be found drifting throughout the world’s oceans and seas. They raft upon macroalgae and driftwood as well as plastic debris, feeding on zooplankton.
France
Laurent has authored 13 photography books on underwater wildlife. As co-founder of Andromède Océanologie, he’s been leading major expeditions for 10 years. He illustrates the underwater world as both a naturalist and an artist, whether that be capturing the first images of a coelacanth taken by a diver at a depth of 120 metres, documenting 700 sharks off Fakarava hunting at night or photographing the deepest and longest dive in Antarctica.
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