There's a photographer in Massachusetts whose main focus is exactly this: scum line art.
"I saw that this boat had this beautiful design and I took a closer look and when I did I realized it was barnacles and dirt and debris," said photographer Barry Beder of Falmouth, MA.
"Locals call it the scum line of the boat. It's the part of the boat that sits on the water and absorbs the chemicals and the compounds and the currents in the flow and it forms a pattern and a shape. And I noticed one day out of nowhere that this shape looks like beautiful art."
With a good eye and appropriate cropping, Barry has snapped numerous fabulous looking images and features them on his website: HullScapes
Here are six of OGN's favourites: