Underwater

Humpback Whales

in

A lifetime’s ambition to be in the water with humpback whales was achieved when I visited Silver Bank, 80 miles off the coast of Dominican Republic. Nothing can prepare you for the sheer size of these magnificent creatures but what struck me most was how gentle and graceful they were. I observed several mother and calf interactions and the tender care exhibited by the mothers was human like. I first booked this trip 5 years ago and it was cancelled twice by Covid... but it was definitely worth the wait.

Red Sea Trip Video

in

The place I've dived most in the world is the Red Sea around Dahab, Egypt. We return most years because we love the dive outfit, Dive Urge, but the diving is great too. Almost all the sites are accessible by walking in, which makes a great change from the normal boat diving I do. This short video gives you a good idea of what you can expect to see on a typical dive.

Porcupine Pufferfish, Red Sea, Dahab, Egypt.

Grand Cayman Trip Video

in

Back in April I spent a week in Grand Cayman, principally to photograph the Southern Stingrays - but the general diving is great too. The visibility is some of the best I've ever experienced and this definitely makes it possible to photograph more subjects because you don't need to get so close. The clarity of the water (called viz by divers) is always a limiting factor on the quality of the images you can capture. The only way to combat poor viz is to get closer to your subject, but this often causes them to move away. If the viz is good you can use a longer lens and photograph them from further away, giving you a much better chance of a good shot.

I photographed the Southern Stingrays at a location known as Stingray City. It’s world famous as being the best place to be able to swim with stingrays and this is because tourist boats visit & feed them several times a day. To avoid the crowds I hired a guide and went out at 6am. They definitely didn’t disappoint - I spent a fantastic hour alone with them.

I love all Rays - it’s the magical way they “fly” through the water that captivates me, it’s just so graceful. Unfortunately this doesn’t really come across in a still photograph, you lose the sense of motion. But it certainly does in video, take a look for yourself here - https://youtu.be/ij7sN6eIUpA

Southern Stingray

Tarpon

Manta Madness

in

I’ve just come back from ten days in the Maldives photographing Reef manta rays - it was spectacular!

Reef mantas typically have a wing span of around 3.5m, so they certainly make an impressive sight, but it’s the way they swim which makes them so hypnotic to be around. They glide gracefully through the water using their wings in a rhythmic “flying” motion - it really is beautiful to watch.

Our location was the reef at Hanifaru Bay. The bay is like a funnel and from May to November prevailing winds and currents result in plankton getting trapped here and it’s this heavy concentration of plankton that attracts whale sharks and schools of manta rays. On the best days there could be over a hundred mantas and several whale sharks feeding here - it’s the world’s largest feeding station known to exist. We didn’t get to see that many but certainly enough to keep us happy.

Photography was tough because the volume of plankton in the water makes it very murky, so these are never going to be super clean shots. But to be honest just being there was enough… it really was a fabulous experience.

Just Back from Grand Cayman

in

Just back from a great week diving in Grand Cayman. Whilst there might not be big schools of fish to photograph there was still plenty of interest… and the visibility underwater was the best I’ve ever experienced. I’ll be processing the images and video over the next few months but in the meantime here’s one of the southern stingrays I photographed.