The kelp forest has been a pretty special place for me since I started diving around California (13 years ago now!). It’s such an important ecosystem for carbon sequestration, can provide emissions reduction, vital habitat and nursery grounds for a variety of animals, amongst a myriad of other roles that it plays in our world. It’s an incredibly dynamic place that I have the great fortune of exploring on a regular basis and I hope we can manage our oceans properly so that future generations get to enjoy the same places that made me fall in love with the sea. It’s been amazing to chat with so many inspiring individuals and learn about tons of new projects that deal with kelp over the past 6 months, exciting to see the kelp forest get the recognition it deserves!
Pacific white sided dolphins bow riding earlier this year with @newportcoastaladventure . One of my favorite dolphin species, super inquisitive, they made multiple close passes to the camera attached to the boat!
#dolphin #underwater #oceans #shotonred #wildlife
@melissacristinamarquez paddles around the bio bay in Puerto Rico looking for sharks, filmed for the Descent Into Darkness episode of Welcome To Earth on @disneyplus . Super fun shoot with great people done way back in 2019, feels like lifetimes ago now! Setup for this shot was a Canon ME20 mounted on a DJI M600 Pro with an Atomos recorder velcroed to the top and an hdmi cable running to the lightbridge for live feed on my controller. #biobay #bioluminescence #welcometoearth
Spent the last couple weeks playing with the new Gates Cine Immersive Housing, it’s been incredible to see this come to life! I’ve loved the immersive space in general and especially what it can do to get people excited about the ocean. When done well, it’s the closest you’re going to get without actually diving in and I think that’s a very different feeling to your traditional media.
Last week, we had the honor to dive in the neutral buoyancy lab with the astronaut candidates in Houston, an unforgettable experience and thanks so much to @gates.underwater , @apple , and @nasa for putting it all together! Exciting projects lined up for the year, I love talking about the tech so hit me up if you have any questions!
Image 1/2: @austinnovy , 3/4: @malakaiisaacs , 5: @celph_certified
We’re delighted to introduce another of our Photo Competition judges: @jeffbhester - an award-winning underwater photographer whose work captures the beauty and diversity of marine life beneath the surface… 🌊 Through his photography, Jeff aims to share the wonder of the ocean and inspire greater appreciation and protection of our marine ecosystems.
We’re thrilled to have his perspective and expertise on our judging panel, and we can’t wait for him to see the incredible photos you’ve captured!
👀 And there’s just one more judge left to reveal… stay tuned!!!!
Reminder‼️ our Wildlife Photo Competition is still open until next Tuesday 17th of March! Enter your best ocean shot for a chance to win prizes worth £1,500+, while supporting our research and ecosystem restoration projects. 🩵
Six visionary voices. One extraordinary night.
This year's film festival, featuring Howard & Michele Hall, David Herasimtschuk, Erick Higuera, Jeff Hester, Steven Lopez, Carmen Obied, and Jennifer Sellitti, showcases films that inspire, challenge, and connect us to the natural world.
Saturday, March 14th, Doors Open at 7:30pm
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Danvers, MA
**Meet the Speakers Event Following the Film Festival**
/registration/
2025 was a blast. Still chasing that elusive work/life balance but it feels like I’m inching closer with each passing year. I’m incredibly grateful for another year spent alongside stellar people from all over the world, experiencing the natural world in ways I never take for granted. Exciting things lined up for 2026 as I try and continue to get better and better at telling stories about the watery places I’ve fallen deeply in love with. Happy new year everyone!
Just before Christmas a couple years ago, I got a call out of the blue from @frozen_wild on the @nautiluslive team, he asked if I wanted to join an expedition in search of the tomb of Cleopatra.
Not your everyday call… especially for me that usually works on the ocean. Then he added, “we think it might be underwater.”
It sounded like quite the adventure, and it was an easy yes.
Diving off the coast of northern Egypt in sites that have been rarely explored, and uncovering artifacts unseen for over 2,000 years, was surreal.
Cleopatra’s Final Secret is out now on Disney+ and National Geographic. As always, it’s the amazing teams that make these adventures so memorable. @frozen_wild@embal97@cameramik@alex_kiehl@devonian.dumpling@julesfoxter@alex_agopian@tomjsound ahmedismail7462 @liontelevision@kennethgarrettphoto , and the brilliant archaeologist @drkathleenmartinez , leading the charge, along with Bob Ballard and the whole crew who made this expedition unforgettable.
Part of the reason why this project is so special to me is that it was the first time I got to collaborate with awesome underwater experts in bringing a unified vision of the film together. The DPs we worked with were all amazing divers and top professionals who shared the same passion for this expedition as we did. Their work adds to the mystery, taking the audience on a cinematic journey into a place not seen by anyone for nearly 2000 years.
@jeffbhester@richstevenson.uk@underwater.explorer
#underwater #cinematography #documentary #cleopatrasfinalsecret #sea #diving #dive #mediterranean #ancienthistory #ancientegypt #reddigital #polsceneuk
There are few places on Earth as magical as the Red Sea, where dolphins glide through vibrant coral reefs and welcome you into the pod. I was fortunate to return last summer to film for a brand-new immersive VR journey, Dolphins of the Reef. Filming them again was a reminder of how deeply these animals depend on healthy reefs for safety, healing, and rest. Now you don’t need a mask and fins to experience it. This new VR journey is playing in 100+ locations around the world. Step inside and discover what it feels like to swim with wild dolphins in their home! BTS photos/video by the super talented @dr.shireenrahimi ! Grateful to the incredible team that brought this vision to life: @immotion.co , @musen.ken , Howard Vu, @dr.shireenrahimi@angelaziltener@dolphinwatchallianceorg@ameliesafari
I’d always heard the Azores were legendary for pelagic life, but last fall’s five week shoot blew me away. I don’t want to spoil too much but we had some incredible encounters and I feel like we barely scratched the surface of that amazing place. And don’t mind the twinning, total coincidence 😂.
#DolphinsUpClose with @bertiegregory premieres Thursday, September 18 at 9/8c on National Geographic, streaming on @disneyplus and @hulu .
Huge thanks to the brilliant crew for making it such an unforgettable adventure! @saildive , @boyley23 , @justdrewsound , @dannyunderpressure , @wildstarfilms@kitchen_dancer , @ellynovick , @angushutton
The last shoot I was able to do for Parenthood was in my own backyard. The story of garibaldi nesting has been told multiple times before but what made me excited about this opportunity is that we were going to get almost 4 weeks to shoot this story. That meant we were hopefully going to be able to see extra layers to the story that we could incorporate to elevate what had been done before. We took a couple days to find the ideal nest and it was one of the most picturesque locations around Santa Barbara Island, a small clearing in the kelp forest with a large boulder that our hero used for his nest. Throughout the season, the male has a lot of jobs. First, creating the perfect nest to attract females, then actually attracting females, then getting them to lay eggs in his nest, then keeping those same females from eating the eggs right after laying them, then curating the garden of eggs to attract new females to make sure he gets a full nest that will get the best chances of survival, then warding off all of the kelp forest creatures that want the easy calorie rich meal. It’s a tough job! One of my favorites was filming the tiny little Catalina goby, the cheeky little devils that would sneak out of holes while the grabibaldi was distracted and eat an egg or two. Once again dream team with @olly_scholey , @maekld , @scuba_joel , @chelsunderwater , @scrambler_catalina . Check out Parenthood now on BBC! @jjwilsonphoto
