Australia is an amazing biodiverse country; it is one of the seventeen mega-diverse countries that collectively hold 70% of the world’s flora and fauna. There are more endemic species in Australia than any other country and its marine and coastal ecosystem is the most expansive and diverse in the world. With its huge coastline all around the mainland spanning from the tropics to temperate latitudes, and its thousands of islands spreading from the tropics to the polar region, Australian waters offer a great diversity of seascapes, and a vast array of highly diverse conditions and habitats. Sandy bottomed shallow waters, extensive coral reefs, large seagrass plains, giant kelp forests, mangroves, and more are home to a wild range of marine species and most diverse fish fauna.

Australia is so vast and varied that it is impossible to summarize its marine life in a few pictures. Though, this round-up tries to illustrate the beauty and wild side of this great diving destination, from the famous great barrier reef in the North-West where you can dive with whales and giant potato grouper, to the remote Neptune Islands in South Australia for a true Great White experience, along with great encounters with grey nurse sharks on the sunshine coast of the East or sea lions in West Australia, as well as the endemic sea dragons back in the South in Kangaroo island.

Giancarlo Brosolo is a French diver and UW photographer based in Singapore, with a particular interest in deep diving and exploration. Australia is one of his favorite playgrounds. His photographs aim at sharing his passion for the ocean and telling diving adventures.

To see more of Giancarlo’s pictures please visit his Flickr gallery.