Eye of the shoal: a fish-watcher's guide to life, the ocean and everything

There's something about fish that leaves a cold, slimy whiff in many people's minds.

Either that, or fish are simply 'food'; catching fish to eat is so deeply ingrained that we fish for fish, but we don't pigeon a pigeon or deer a deer.

It's difficult to think of fish as wild, living things, partly because those chunks of white meat on our plates are almost impossible to connect to animate, living, breathing creatures, in the same way a steak doesn't call to mind a mooing, cud-chewing cow.

To make matters worse, fish inhabit a realm beyond our normal, everyday experiences.

Wild fish hover in seas, rivers and lakes, out of sight and out of mind.

But from the very first time Helen Scales immersed herself into their liquid world, she realised that fish are beautiful, mesmerising, complex and exciting.