Deep sea creatures are often included in ocean tattoos to add more appeal to the image, including sharks, all types of fish, octopi, squid, sea turtles, and more. You can just add in some attractive sea life to make your tattoo pop a bit more, but most people take this idea further by only including fish that add in even more meaning to the design. Just about everything on land and in the ocean has at least one meaning attached to it, so chances are you will be able to find a perfect match or two if this is the route you chose to go in with your ocean tattoo.

Brightly colored coral, weed, and other underwater plants help to make a bolder piece, accompanying the sea life. These water images reveal an affiliation with the aquatic, a terrain not usual for humanity. With this type of added imagery, you’re not really looking to add in more meaning as much as you’re trying to make the design a bit more striking. Even a couple of nice, perhaps contrasting elements can take an ocean tattoo to the next level.

Additionally, mermaids or sirens are often added to ocean pieces because of their hybridity. Ocean is blended with human life in this way, allowing for the natural land-dwelling nature of humanity to fade in favor of the unpredictable waters. The addition of dolphins, mammals like humans, are also representative of this hybridity. This is yet another way to show that you are “one with the ocean” without having to be too obvious about it.

Regardless of the iconography included, ocean tattoos can be rendered either in color or greyscale. This is going to come down to personal tastes and what’s great is that you won’t lose or gain any meaning regardless of how your tattoo is colored. Some people might choose to stick with grey simply because they don’t like the way colored ink fades over time. Or, on the flip side of things, some people might prefer the bright blues of the ocean and think it’s the only way to get one of these tattoos. Again, it totally depends on what you like.