Russian fisherman shares pics of nightmare creatures from the depths
Delve into the mysterious world hundreds of metres below sea level.
A Russian fisherman has found Internet fame by posting photos of all the weird and horrifying creatures he finds on his travels near the Arctic.
Roman Fedortsov, a 40-year-old engineer and technologist on fishing trawlers in the Barents Sea, posts his bizarre finds a few times a week – to the horror and amusement of his followers.
Roman has been posting photos of deep sea oddities on Instagram since his time on trawlers in the Atlantic, near north Africa, but it was only after opening a Twitter account last year that the wider world started paying attention.
He now has nearly 350,000 followers on Instagram and almost 150,000 followers on Twitter.
The underwater space is impressive pic.twitter.com/EfeWJYTBuX
— Роман Федорцов (@rfedortsov) January 18, 2018
He told the Press Association: “People are very interested in unusual sea creatures.
“I think the reason for such popularity was the fact that an ordinary sailor can face life with unusual ‘fantastic creatures’.”
More than 80% of the world’s oceans remain “unmapped, unobserved and unexplored”, according to the latest estimates from the American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Roman added: “All kinds of fish are beautiful in their own way.
“I can not say that they are ‘scary’ or ‘ugly’.”
My new photo of #frilledshark pic.twitter.com/PaGQVB8gpj
— Роман Федорцов (@rfedortsov) December 2, 2017
He said: “Readers have the impression that with each trawl we bring aboard unusual fish specimens. In fact, this is far from the case. It is a rarity.
“On the other hand, even a famous fish can be photographed so that it will seem to be a ‘monster’.”
“Most of the raised fish do not survive due to the difference in pressure,” he added.
“Commercial fish is processed, non-food bycatch is used for the production of fish meal.”
Roman works as a master of fish processing and technologist on boats heading out of Murmansk, which is further north than Iceland.
He said he comes from a family of fishermen, having gained a degree as an engineer-technologist for the fishing industry from Moscow State Technical University.
His father was a navigator and his grandfather was “a master of prey”, he said.
Anybody home? pic.twitter.com/gp1Iv42KOk
— Роман Федорцов (@rfedortsov) July 12, 2018
The Barents Sea, to the north of Roman’s home town of Murmansk, has “extraordinary” biodiversity according to the World Wildlife Fund, largely because of the influx of warm Atlantic water mixing with cold water from the Arctic.
PA Media
