Photograph shows jellyfish floating in famous basalt cave

This underwater photograph shows a jellyfish floating in a world-famous basalt cave.

Andy Schmid, 42, is a keen diver and wildlife photographer, and had wanted to visit Scotland in the summer to swim with basking sharks.

As soon as he was able to leave Cologne, Germany, which has been on the green list, he flew to Glasgow and then travelled to the Isle of Coll, off Mull in the Inner Hebrides.

Andy, from Zurich, Switzerland, brought his underwater camera equipment along including a strobe light – which was used to illuminate the ethereal creature as it floated beneath water in Fingal’s Cave, on the lsle of Staffa.

During the trip, in July, Andy and his girlfriend swam with basking sharks and saw minke whales, rhisso’s dolphins, harbor porpoises as well as grey seals and common seals.

Andy said: “As soon as I got into the water I realized how many jellyfish were in the water and instantly developed the idea of a split shot showing the entry to the cave from above and below the surface in one picture.

“Using a camera in an underwater housing with a big glass dome in front of the lens created the image.

“On this particular day the water was moving a lot which made it challenging to create the image and took me quite some time but I eventually managed to get what I had in mind.

“To make the jellyfish stand out I used underwater strobe light which only travels a short distance in the water and only illuminated the jellyfish.

“Everything else is lit by the ambient light that day offered.”

The software developer went on a trip with Basking Shark Scotland.

He added: “We also got the chance to visit nearby islands such as Lunga with its colonies of seabirds such as puffins and razorbills.

“On the last day we visited Staffa to try and swim into the beautiful basalt caves, especially Fingal’s Cave if conditions were allowing it.”