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Bahrain’s aquatic animals are being captured in picture form by a Bahraini underwater photographer to celebrate the marine treasures as well as raise awareness about their existence to protect them.
Scuba diving instructor Arif Janahi, who is certified by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), is one of the very few local photographers who specialise in underwater macro photography and has been diving different depths in search of Bahrain’s beautiful sea life.
“My photography started as a desire to showcase what underwater life looks like,” said the 52-year-old head of commercial and small and medium enterprises at a national bank.
“During my last 20 years of diving, I can confirm that Bahrain has lost important and well-known species. The last crayfish (known as lobster) I saw was in the North of Bahrain in 2006.
“It is extremely rare to also find the parrotfish — a species of fish that was sold at a reasonable price all over Bahrain up until the 1990s. Did you know that the beaches of the world are made of the waste of parrotfishes?
“My objective after time surpassed showcasing what is there in the depths because I realised Bahrain’s waters have a lot to offer. It is time we put our efforts into maintaining and protecting the tiny marine animals that many do not know exist.”
During his expeditions, he has snapped up images of an array of species of sea slugs such as nudibranchs and flabellinas as well as peacock-tail shrimp, Blenny fish, Goby fish, Clown fish, Moray eels and other types of fish, shrimps and crabs, frogfish, hatching fish and more.
A friend of his even discovered a tiny Costasiella Kuroshimae in November 2020 in the North of Bahrain at the Bulthamah site. The Costasiella Kuroshimae, also known as a leaf slug, leaf sheep or salty ocean caterpillar, are shell-less marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks ranging in size from five millimetres to one centimetre in length.
“We would see these sea slugs in different locations East and North East of Bahrain,” said Arif, who started scuba diving in 2003, achieved his PADI accreditation in 2007 and was certified by the same organisation in January 2023 to teach underwater photography.
“I also saw several species of seahorses and pipefish, which I believe were never captured on camera in Bahrain before.”
The first time he snapped the seahorse was in June 2016 and, most recently, this month using a Sony A7R IV camera with a 90mm macro lens. He also uses a Nauticam camera housing with a Kraken lighting system.
“I usually find them (seahorses) on the West Coast of Bahrain from April until the end of June,” explained Arif. “No seahorse was spotted in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. I suspect it is due to some developments that happened in areas of their habitat.”
Arif has travelled thousands of miles to photograph the pygmy seahorses (Bargibanti, Denise, and Pontohi).
“There are many species of seahorses in the world,” he said. “I have never seen images of the types I captured in Bahrain. Our water is salt-concentrated, very shallow and hot. In summary, the environment and conditions in Bahrain (and the Gulf) are different from most parts of the world.
“This makes me somewhat sure that seahorses in the area are unidentified by marine biologists. They may not have any recordings. Isn’t this a reason for me to showcase them?”
Arif should know as he has dived in the world’s best destinations including Raja Ampat, Lembeh Strait and Comodo in Indonesia as well as the famous Anilao, which is three hours south of Manila on the island of Luzon, in the Batangas province of the Philippines.
It is known as a mecca for underwater macro photography with its diverse rich reefs, variety of fish, unexpected critters and nudibranchs.
He has also been to the remote parts of the south of Maldives, the Red Sea and regularly visits the Sea of Oman.
“I have seen a long list of marine animals including tiger sharks, spinner sharks, manta rays, blue-ring octopuses, mototi octopuses, harlequin shrimps, hatching flamboyant squids, bargibanti seahorses and more,” he said. “The most interesting though will always be the unidentified (as I believe) seahorse species in Bahrain and the Bahraini version of the Costasiella.”
Arif is planning on launching underwater photography classes to raise awareness and hopes to host a photography exhibition someday to highlight the importance of the marine ecosystem.
“God created a sophisticated underwater ecology system that gives life to planet Earth,” he said. “Each fish and coral has a role in keeping the ecosystem alive. Humans know very little about the sophisticated system and roles of creatures, ranging from the tiniest microscopic ones to the largest whales. Most of us, especially in the Gulf, have a fear of animals that live in oceans. Hence, people do not care about the health of oceans, which is a wrong perception of the reason behind the existence of oceans and their life.”
For details, follow @dive_with_arif on Instagram.
