A man helps another make his way through deep mud at the site of a landslide at the Koslanda tea plantation near Haldummulla October 30, 2014. Hopes of finding survivors under the mud and rubble of a landslide in south-central Sri Lanka had run out by first light on Thursday, though a government minister cut the estimated death toll to more than 100 from 300 the previous night. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

A girl, standing before her tea shop, which is completely ruined by sea water in Frazerganj, Sundarbans, India on August 18, 2020. After Cyclone Aila struck the Sundarbans in 2009, it became clear that frequent cyclonic events will turn the residents of Sundarbans into climate refugees. Within May 5, 2019 – May 25, 2021, Sundarbans faced cyclones- Fani, Bulbul, Amphan & Yaas – each devastating enough to justify the fear of mass displacement. (Photo by Supratim Bhattacharjee/Mangrove Photography Awards)

Created by ceramic artist Mary O’Malley, who studied in Philadelphia and now resides in Long Island, New York, the Bottom Feeders series is particularly inspired by childhood memories and her newly familiar surroundings next to the sea. By combining the imagery of sea creatures with the elegance of tea time, O'Malley envisions a whimsical occasion worthy of such fictional characters a Davy Jones and Alice.

Children feed a giraffe at Pairi Daiza wildlife park, a zoo and botanical garden in Brugelette, Belgium, May 25, 2015. (Photo by Francois Lenoir/Reuters)

A moment of intimacy at the Sydney Cherry Blossom festival in Auburn Botanic Gardens on August 19, 2024. (Photo by Mike Bowers/The Guardian)

A starling jealously guards a seed station in the back garden of the photographer’s Michigan home in January 2024. (Photo by Lisa Cavanary/Solent News)

A striking spiral of golden ginkgo leaves raked with care in a private garden in Petersdorf, Brandenburg, Germany on November 2, 2025. (Photo by Patrick Pleu/dpa)

A three-week-old chihuahua puppy named Tom Thumb poses in a tea cup on April 7, 2009 in Renton, Scotland. The pup, which measures eight inches long, is thought to be one of the smallest dogs born in the UK and is just two inches short of a world record. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)