Glassy sweeper

Photo: John C. · CC BY-NC

Glassy sweepers are small, translucent fish that aggregate in enormous schools inside wrecks, caves, and under overhangs during the day, emerging after dark to feed on zooplankton. Their copper-tinted, nearly see-through bodies allow photographers to shoot directly through the school. These dense aggregations serve as prey for the snappers, jacks, and groupers that patrol wreck exteriors. The swirling, shimmering clouds they form inside the Ida Maria's holds are one of the wreck's signature visual experiences.