Photographer Captures One-of-a-Kind Shots of a Fish Trapped Inside a Jellyfish

Tim Samuel, an Australian photographer, captured a once-in-a-lifetime sight while free diving off The Pass in Byron Bay, on New South Wales’ north coast. The incredible photographs depict the strange sight of a fish trapped within a jellyfish. Even worse, according to Samuel, the confined fish was able to direct the jellyfish’s movement, like a warped form of a living and breathing submarine.

The photos appear to capture the poor little fish’s expression of utter dread (or perhaps confusion?) as he is confined to his jelly prison. Samuel believes that in all his years spent in the sea, he has never seen anything like this. He has been a photographer for almost five years and a surfing teacher before that.

Despite the fish’s concerned expression, Ian Tibbetts, an Associate Professor at the University of Queensland, told Australian Geographic that “it’s tough to determine if calamity has just struck, or the fish is glad to be in there.” Some fish species seek refuge beneath the stingers of jellyfish, so this little fellow may have just missed his mark. In any case, Samuel’s photos are unquestionably the oddest sight of the day.