Students took their lectures to a new level - 18 metres under the sea in Indonesia.

The ground breaking underwater marine biology lessons for University of Essex student were the first of their kind during dives on tropical coral reef systems.

The lectures were held during the annual field trip to Wakatobi Marine National Park organised by the university’s school of biological sciences.

Professor David Smith said: “It was a fantastic experience as I was able to use the power of observation like never before. “I have been on thousands of dives over the years but this was a totally new experience as I was able to explain to students exactly what they were seeing and inject more passion and feeling into the whole lecture.

“It was very special and transformed the whole experience both for me and our students.” Prof Smith used specialised audio equipment, which was purchased from a university special teaching grant, to talk to the students underwater.

Student Tilly James said: “The underwater lectures were an invaluable part of the course as they enabled us to get a much better understanding of how all the components of the reef system were interacting with each other.”