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Did you know that female Lionfish can lay approximately 2 million eggs per year!!

Female Lionfish are sexually mature and will release eggs when they reach 7 to 8 inches in length, or approximately one year old. A female Lionfish can shockingly release between 10,000 and 30,000 unfertilized eggs every 4 days year around, approximately 2 MILLION eggs per year, in South Florida and warmer Caribbean waters but possibly only spawn 3 to 4 months a year in colder waters. She will typically release 2 egg sacs that are between 1 and 2 inches long every spawn. It is believed the egg sac contains a chemical deterrent that discourages other fish from eating the eggs. The eggs sacs and larvae are distributed by ocean currents, which has driven their rapid increase in range. ... See more

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To celebrate International Women's Day today, we're featuring the work of Jennifer Adler, one of the photographers from our Exposure: Lives at Sea exhibition at the National Maritime Museum.

See here some of Jennifer's photographs and read about her work in the STEM field, and the opportunities for women in that arena below.

Find out more about the exhibition here: rmg.co.uk/exposure

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Here Jennifer talks about how she first started her career:

‘I always wanted to be a scientist. I grew up around the ocean and wanted a job that involved studying the sea; it seemed like science was the perfect path to make that happen. The idea of becoming a science communicator was planted later while studying marine biology Brown University, where my eyes were opened to the idea that communication is essential to science, not separate from it.

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I first photographed underwater while studying in the Turks and Caicos with The School for Field Studies. But my photos were absolutely terrible! I didn’t start photographing seriously until I was a scientist The U.S. Geological Survey and doing my PhD at The University of Florida. It was Florida’s incredible freshwater springs that inspired me to pick up a camera and document these ecosystems, which I’ve photographed over the past 10 years.

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My advice for getting into STEM careers: read everything you can find. Spend time in the ecosystem you want to study. Look, observe, take notes. Think of questions you’d like to answer in your research and talk to other scientists-don’t be afraid to reach out. Email authors of peer-reviewed papers that intrigue you. I got my first job at The U.S. Geological Survey by emailing a woman whose papers I admired and asking if she had any openings. She didn’t, but she sent my resume around and someone else hired me.’

Images taken in Florida’s freshwater springs:

1. Scientists from the University of Florida conduct a dye trace study at Silver Spring
2. Kids cool off in a freshwater spring during Florida's sweltering summer
3. My friend Diana Dombrowski swims in a freshwater spring in Florida
4. Dr. Jerry Johnston holds a yellow-bellied slider during a research day in a freshwater spring in Florida
5. Manatees swim in a freshwater spring ... See more

A legend of a shipwreck

A wee underwater tour of the S.S. Breda

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New research finds that some species are threatened because they are literally drowning

On a cold grey January Sunday in the middle of another lock down, it’s easy to forget why we go diving
Here’s a little reminder of what waits for us in Anglesey

https://youtu.be/lQ1tjoMa488

A video of two scuba dives off the coast of Anglesey, 22nd May 2010. With lots of fish, an Octopus and a sunken wreck. Two very nice dives done with New Hor...

New UK-wide lockdown prompts a reminder to all members to stay home and stay safe, we will dive again another day.

Start the New Year with a splash 👌👌👌

Happy New Year from all of us at Midlancs sac 👌🎈🥂

Surprise someone with a Scuba Diving Try Dive voucher 👌👌👌