4/22/10 Carla Stejhr's photography show, "Sea Unseen," opened recently in the Passages of the Deep exhibit at the Oregon Coast Aquarium after a nine-month run at the Seattle Aquarium. Stehr's photos reveal sea creatures and plant life that typically can't be seen by the naked eye. But magnified 30,000 times or so, they look intricate and otherworldly. Some images seem as tame and orderly as the weave of fine fabric, while others loom B-movie scary.
Diatoms, or microscopic algae, appear as big as doughnuts fresh from the fryer. Flatfish gills seem so large and graceful you'd swear they're palm fronds swaying in a trade wind. A newly hatched red octopus looks enormous enough to wrap an arm around an ocean liner. And one of Stehr's favorite shots -- a newborn surf smelt devouring a freshly hatched crab -- is reminiscent of "Jaws."
Read the full artilce and view the images here.