Sherkin Island Marine Station has promoted the understanding and appreciation of Ireland's marine environment since 1975 and has published Ireland's Hidden Depths to showcase this truly captivating world.

Explore, with nature photographer and author Paul Kay, the beautiful, intriguing and fascinating creatures that can be found in the shallow waters around Ireland's coast. Experience Paul's enthusiasm for this remarkable wildlife, which he has been photographing for nearly 30 years.

Even in the twenty-first century the undersea world remains a hidden one. Although Ireland’s coast, particularly in the west, offers some of the clearest temperate waters in Europe, the sea surface is a visual barrier which is hard to see through, making it difficult to appreciate the beauty of the plants and animals that live below the waves.

This book follows on from Ireland's Marine Life – A World of Beauty which was originally published by Sherkin Island Marine Station in 1992. Its aim remains the same as the earlier book: to showcase the stunningly beautiful marine world which surrounds Ireland and which is all too often overlooked. It benefits from advances in our understanding of the marine environment and its inhabitants, as well as in the technology of underwater photography.

Paul Kay has accumulated nearly 30 years of photographic experience since graduating with an honours degree in Scientific Photography, and has been a full-time freelance photographer for over 20 years. He also holds a commercial scuba diving certificate and his temperate underwater photographs have resulted in his gaining a distinction of Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society.