When he decided to start capturing these photos, photographer Seth Casteel had much more than an adorable snapshot in mind. Casteel’s work has specialized in underwater photography before, but this project, entitled “Underwater Babies,” is meant to bring attention to some troubling statistics. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, children ages 1 to 4 have the highest rate of drowning of any demographic in the country. Casteel wanted to capture babies learning to swim, not only to celebrate their first experiences in water, but to also shine some light on what can happen when babies are not taught to swim. In spite of the dark message, these photos are pretty epic – we’d love to take a dip with that little mermaid.
