Unseen underwater, the unsavoury truth about nature...

When I was a child I used to thank the Lord that I was large enough to tread on spiders, I was scared of them and dreaded the thought of being insect sized and living in that nightmare world that was our back garden.

Now I rescue spiders in the bath or sink, worms and snails as well, if I find them crossing the road on a wet morning.

However, today at dawn I lowered my camera down into the murky depths of the Winterbourne stream Sluice gate in Railway Land, Lewes and discovered a new nightmare.

Apart from being and extraordinary glimpse into the other half of planet earth, right under our noses, there's more to these photos than meets the eye!

I'm sure readers will, by now, know that these Thin Lipped Grey Mullet are here in the spring water outlet to heal their wounds sustained and infections caught while out at sea in the winter months spawning but, as if that wasn't bad enough for the poor things, note the fish left of centre with the white something hanging out of it's mouth. It is, I believe, a parasitic marine flatworm. It's attached to the inside of the fish's mouth and the worm's twin tails are trailing outside. From above one can see that the whole side of the fishes head is sunken in and disfigured.

Perhaps worse still is the parasitic Lamprey on the fish right of centre (top photo) the Lamprey's head with rasping teeth and blood sucking mouth are firmly attached inside the vent, the fishes anus!

Nature at it's worst one might say but these creatures are hard wired to do such things and are, after all, only doing so to feed themselves and their families. We too can be monsters and the more I see of suffering like this, the more I realise that I have to change my eating habits. Unlike these creatures, humans have the intellect and ability to survive and feed our families with minimum suffering to other creatures. Someone on the river bank said "They're just fishes mate"

As my Grandad said when teaching me about the natural world;

" Don't just look at things boy, 'see' them"