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The beautiful animals, which are between one centimeter and a meter in size, swarm in their hundreds as they emerge from the murky depths.

The 37-year-old’s pictures show each bizarre brightly-colored creature in stunning detail.

Fishbowl: Barrel jellyfish in the North Atlantic Ocean are opaque white color with purple/blue lobes – and can weigh up to 35k

One of the deep sea jellyfish, Leuckartiara medusa, gleams translucently for the lens

Spiky legs: This bizarre creature from the depths is hydromedusae

A blue lionmane jellyfish, pictured in front of an either bigger brother, can grow up to seven feet in diameter – and have tendrils stretching up to 100 feet
The jellyfish are also found in the North Atlantic Ocean – but Mr. Rekdal went into the fjords for these pictures.

One looks almost like a parachute as it floats through the water with its tendrils dragging behind it.

Others, which are almost transparent, appear to glow in the dull water around them.

Mr. Rekdal said: ‘The deep sea jellyfish, featured here is a special phenomena occurring in only a couple of special fjords.

‘These jellyfish are found worldwide in very deep water.

‘But here in Norway there are a couple of deep fjords were they come up from the deep to feed during the night.

‘Like vampires their cellular structures disintegrate when hit by daylight and they quickly return to the depths at the break of dawn.’

Are these twins? Hydromedusa sails past the camera

These images of the helmet jellyfish looks almost like the work of a graphic artist. It lives between 1,000 and 7,000ft underwater

Side view: Helmet jelly from another angle in Norway

And one more of this jelly-like creature of the depth, looking from the depth
Mr. Rekdal, from Romslo, near Bergen, was able to take the shots by diving with specialist underwater camera equipment.

His camera was carefully housed in aluminum watertight casings which have glass portholes to photograph through.

He admitted taking the photographs was no easy task. Even the slightest movement or flash of light could send his subjects diving out of sight.

The juvenile moon jellyfish can withstand temperatures as low as -6C and as high as 31C

He said: ‘Light use is kept to a minimum as the jellyfish quickly react to the light and seek refuge in deeper water.

‘The jellyfish, some up to a meter in diameter when arms are extended, swarm in the hundreds, all strutting their arms in hope of catching prey.

‘The tricky part is to approach the jellyfish slowly and with as little light as to not warn them of your presence.

After the first shot is fired the jellyfish will turn and head for deeper water. Getting good shots is a challenge.’

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His Wet Suit Held His Skin Together

In 1963, freestyle diver, Rodney Fox, was taking part in a spear-fishing competition off the South Australian coast. While diving without oxygen, Fox was grabbed around the middle by a great white shark. Fox fought the shark hard, getting free at one point and having the shark return to bite him again. Fox then wrapped his arms around the beast and was taken for a terrifying ride under the sea as the shark tried to shake him off. The shark had Fox’s arm in his mouth, and when he pulled the arm out, his skin was shredded from the bone. Finally, after very nearly drowning, Fox got free and was pulled into a boat. His bones were visible on his right hand and arm, and his rib cage, lungs, and upper stomach were all completely exposed. His rescuers kept his wetsuit on, which kept his internal organs from spilling out, ultimately saving his life. Fox underwent four hours of surgery and received 462 stitches to put his skin back together, but he is still alive today to tell his tale of surviving an attack from one of the world’s greatest predators.

Bethany Hamilton Was Back On Her Board A Month After Losing Her Arm

In 2003, Bethany Hamilton was age 13. She was Hawaii’s top female surfer in her age group and one of the best in the United States before being attacked on the morning of Halloween by a 14-foot tiger shark. Bethany was lying on her surfboard with her left arm dangling in the water when the shark came up from below and bit off her arm at the shoulder. Her friends were able to apply a tourniquet and get help, but she lost over 60 percent of her blood and endured many surgeries in order to recover.

Remarkably, losing her arm did not dissuade Hamilton from surfing, and within a month of her attack she was back on her surfboard. In 2005, Hamilton won her first national title at the National Scholastic Surfing Association National Championships. Her story later became the basis for a big budget Hollywood movie called “Soul Surfer.”

Man Killed In Front of New Bride While On Honeymoon

Just ten days after getting married, British honeymooners Ian and Gemma Redmond were enjoying a tropical beach vacation in Seychelles, when tragedy struck. Thirty-year-old Ian Redmond was snorkeling just twenty yards off shore while his new wife sunbathed on the beach. Redmond was attacked by a shark, which bit off one arm and destroyed one of his legs. It is thought that Redmond died instantly, though he was quickly pulled from the water into a boat, and a doctor on the beach applied first aid until emergency medical crews arrived. Redmond’s hysterical new wife was restrained by the crowds of people on the beach while workers attempted to save her husband.

Man Punches Shark In Face To Escape

Twenty-eight year old Hawaiian resident Joshua Holley was surfing at his favorite spot off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii’s North Shore, when a 10-foot tiger shark bit his left foot. Instinctively realizing what he needed to do, Holley hauled off and punched the shark twice in the face, and the shark swam away. Holley suffered some severed tendons in his foot which required 42 stitches to repair, but the shark did not bite any major arteries. In spite of his attack, Holley says he will return to the water and feels no animosity towards the shark, saying, “You have to remember when you’re in the ocean you have to respect the ocean, that’s where they eat, live, breed; we’re just visitors in their home.”

Diver Survives Attack By Fending Off Shark With Camera

Conservationist and professional underwater photographer and diver, Russell Easton, was photographing a 12-ft tiger shark in the Bahamas when suddenly his camera’s viewfinder showed a huge mouthful of sharp teeth! The shark bit into Easton’s camera, so the diver shoved the camera further into his mouth and was able to swim away to safety.

Despite the terrifying incident, the diver says he doesn’t think the shark was trying to hurt him; rather, the shark was just trying to figure out what he was by using his mouth like we would use our hand.

Dolphins Save Swimmers From Shark

While on a training swim about 100 meters off Ocean Beach near Whangarei on the North Island of New Zealand, lifeguard Rob Howes said he and three female lifeguards were surrounded by a pod of dolphins who were acting very strangely. The dolphins circled around the swimmers and began beating the water with their fins, causing the water to be a churning mass of dolphins and bobbing human heads. Howes managed to get outside the circle of dolphins, and that’s when he spotted a huge great white shark a short distance away. As the shark moved closer to the women in the water, the dolphins became even more agitated and “went into hyper drive.” The shark finally swam away when a rescue boat approached, but the dolphins did not leave the scene until all of the swimmers were safely backed on dry land.

Man Captures Attack On Film

In 1964, Henri Bource and two other divers were swimming with seals in the ocean off Lady Julia Percy Island in Australia, when a great white shark suddenly appeared and bit off his leg at the knee. His diving partners got Bource onto the boat, and incredibly, the rescue was videotaped.

Man Loses Leg and Becomes Shark Preservation Advocate

On Aug. 4, 2001, while vacationing with his wife on Grand Bahama Island, Wall Street banker Krishna Thompson was attacked by a shark and dragged out to sea. When the shark pulled him under the water, Thompson knew he had to take action to save his own life, so he pried the shark’s mouth open and punched it twice in the nose. The shark released him and he was able to get himself to shore, but sadly his leg was so damaged it had to be amputated.
Now, nearly ten years after his attack, Thompson has become an advocate for the preservation of the species, saying that “Sharks set the balance for the whole ocean.”

Shark Attack Death Blamed On Reality TV Show

In April 2012, a production crew for the National Geographic channel was filming the television reality show “Shark Men” off the coast of South Africa. Reportedly, they were attracting sharks to the area by dumping gallons of fish parts (“chum”) into the water. The production company had permits for chumming and filming, however, just a few days after chumming the waters, a local 20-year-old champion body boarder named David Lilienfeld was killed by a 13-to-16-foot shark in waters that had not previously seen shark activity since 1999.
Local residents were outraged, and the show’s research permit was immediately revoked. The show “Shark Men” continues to receive criticism and has been cancelled.

Brave Mother Pulls Daughter From Jaws of Shark

In March of 2012, a mother and her 15-year-old daughter were sitting on their surfboards off the coast of New Smyrna Beach in Florida when a shark suddenly pulled the teen underwater. Acting quickly, Valeh Levy grabbed her daughter Sydney by the shoulders and pulled her up onto her own surfboard. The shark continued to circle until rescuers heard the mother’s screams for help and chased it away. The teenager required surgery on her foot, but is expected to make a full recovery.

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Leon Lotz of the arachnology department at the National Museum said it was only the second time that he had heard of a snake getting caught in a spider’s web.

It is believed the snake got caught in the web on Monday night. But it did not take the spider long to bite it.

A red mark on the snake’s stomach was evidence of where the spider had started eating it.

Throughout Tuesday, the spider checked on her prey, but on Wednesday she rolled it up and started spinning a web around it. She also kept lifting it higher off the ground, while continually snacking on it.

Even a fly that accidentally landed on the snake was chased off aggressively

Although some have questioned the authenticity of the photographs, they are in fact genuine. The description of the incident in the message is an abridged version of an article first published by South African online news outlet, News24

The version of the story that is currently circulating omits location information along with identification details about the creatures shown in the photographs and these omissions have caused some confusion. Africa’s Brown Button spider is related to Australia’s Redback spider and America’s Black Widow spider. All three have distinctive red markings on their bodies and are similar in shape. Thus, some commentators have misidentified the spider in the photographs as a Redback and therefore falsely assumed that the snake’s demise occurred in Australia. Others wrongly believe the spider is a Black Widow and relocate the action to the United States.

Deadly interactions between spiders and snakes are not unprecedented. Another 2004 news article describes how a 12 inch snake was trapped in the web of a Chinese house spider and subsequently killed by the spider’s bite. And, along with the photographs of the Brown Button snake and Aurora snake shown above, an article on the Spiderzrule website includes photographs of other types of snakes that have apparently been caught and bitten by Redback spiders.

Spiders of this family, which includes Button spiders, Redback spiders and Black Widow spiders, are certainly venomous enough to kill smaller reptiles, other animals and, occasionally, humans.

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