These Beautiful Images Will Help You See Coral Reefs In A Whole New Way

Teeming with life, coral reefs occupy less than one percent of the ocean floor but sustain 25 percent of marine species. These hubs of biodiversity now face existential threats, from ocean warming and acidification to destructive fishing practices and pollution. It’s their stunning beauty that first caught the attention of photographer Georgette Apol Douwma during a trip to the Great Barrier Reef in the 1970s. Some 40 years, many scuba dives, and thousands of pictures later, Douwma began to reimagine her catalog by duplicating and reversing images to create symmetrical patterns similar to a kaleidoscope’s. The results emphasize the vibrancy and brilliance of these vulnerable underwater wonders.

Collage of different shades of red, star-shaped corals and golden sea worms.

BRITTLE STARDouwma estimates that she’s made a thousand kaleidoscopic images, including this one photographed in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi Province  in 2018. “I got quite carried away,” she says of the process.

Orange-gold fish on the background of blue corrals.

LYRETAIL ANTHIASA London resident and former BBC freelancer, Douwma focused on reefs around the world before hanging up her scuba gear in 2020 at age 79. In 2012 she captured a photo of these orange fish in the Red Sea.

Kaleidoscopic image of white Feather stars and Gorgonian wrapper anemone on deep-blue background.

CRINOIDDouwma’s favorite region to dive was Southeast Asia, including Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia—the country where she found this crinoid, along with gorgonian wrappers, in 2007.

Kaleidoscopic image of gorgonian corals of red color.

GORGONIAN SEA FANTo reveal bright colors that would otherwise look monochromatic underwater, Douwma used flashes with her subjects—this one also from West Papua Province, photographed in 2009.

Kaleidoscopic image of Coral reef scenery with soft corals in red and pink, and a school of Yellowback fish.

YELLOWBACK FUSILIERSSwimming past corals in Indonesia’s West Papua Province, the school of fish appears to quadruple in number after Douwma edited a 2017 photograph.

Kaleidoscopic image of Bubble tip anemone, looking like bubbles.

BUBBLE-TIP ANEMONEIn this image based on a photograph taken in Indonesia in 2011, an anemone shows signs of bleaching after expelling the organisms that provided it with nutrients. Healthy examples support many species of anemonefish.

Corals on bright blue background.

SOFT CORALSSeveral types of colorful corals adorn this image based on a photograph Douwma captured in 2009 in Thailand’s Andaman Sea.

Kaleidoscopic image of fish on coral reef with soft corals

BIGEYE SNAPPERSDouwma photographed these fish, with their bright yellow markings, swimming among soft corals on a reef in West Papua, Indonesia, in 2018.

Kaleydoskop image looking like a wreath of flowers.

LYRETAIL ANTHIASAnother view of these orange fish is based on a photograph taken during a 2012 scuba dive in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt.

Kaleidoscopic image of Blue-green chromis

BLUE-GREEN CHROMISRinging the coral with pops of color, this type of damselfish often occurs in large numbers. Douwma documented these in 2015 in the Red Sea off Egypt’s coast.

Kaleidoscopic image of coral reef with Red sea whips.

RED SEA WHIPSIn this image—based on a photograph taken in 2008 in the Raja Ampat archipelago of West Papua, Indonesia—the sea whips seem to reach for the edges of the frame.

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