Underwater sphere images offer a whole new perspective for underwater scenic photography. After 40 years or more of close-up specimen shots and little glimpses of parts of a coral reef, we can now enjoy the feeling of being there, hovering over the astonishing crystal jungle of corals and turning around, amazed at the abundance and variety of life around us.

Ilot Ua is one of the lagoon islands within the world's largest coral reef lagoon, the World Heritage Site New Caledonia Lagoon.

In New Caledonia's southern lagoon each small tropical lagoon island is surrounded by a fringing reef. These fringing reefs are almost awash on top at low tide and then they drop straight down to 6 or even 10 metres. Pinnacles of coral often grow just off the fringing reef and I stopped on one of these pinnacles to take this underwater scenic panorama of the reef face. 

Frederique dove down about half way to the bottom to give you a sense of the size of the reef face.

It must have been the breeding season for sardines - or perhaps they were anchovies - for great shoals of them flowed around us.