Stunning images of endangered sea creatures at the bottom of the ocean

From a harp seal swimming under ever depleting ice sheets to a tiny yellow goby peering out of a discarded can, American photographer Brian Skerry has captured the endangered world below the waves, The Daily Mail reports.

The underwater explorer has dedicated his life to capturing sumptuous images of life on the ocean floor, capturing beautifully candid snaps of marine life in motion as well as their interactions with divers around them.

The images make up an exhibition due to be held at the National Musuem of Natural History in Washington D.C. later this month but are only a small part of the artist's passionate documentation of sea life.

'The oceans are in trouble. There are some serious problems out there that I believe are not clear to many people. My hope is to continually find new ways of creating images and stories that both celebrate the sea yet also highlight environmental problems.

Photography can be a powerful instrument for change,' he says of his work.

Contributing to National Geographic magazine and an array of wildlife publications the photographer hopes his art contributes to the cause.

Writing on World Oceans Day in July he added: 'Those of us who can't see the ocean from our window might feel disconnected from the life there. It might seem that, because the ocean feels far away, its problems will only harm those people that fish or make their living directly from the sea. But this isn’t true: the sea is far more important than that.'

Portraits of Planet Ocean opens at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. on September 17.