World Press Photo Award 2011

I just emerged from a assignment to Arabia's Fjordlands to discover that I won a World Press Photo Award. (1st Prize Singles Nature)  I am very stoked and honored !

Flight for Survival:  Cape gannet chicks are facing starvation as a result of overfishing off the west coast of southern Africa. This adult bird with its 2 m wingspan is on final approach to land on Malgas Island, one of the most important breeding colonies in the world. During the breeding season Cape gannets travel up to 450km per day in search of food for their chicks. If however the fish are further away, the adults will not sacrifice their own health by making longer flights. They return with an empty stomach, and the chicks starve to death. Cape Gannet numbers having been plummeting since the 1960s and if this decline is to be halted, conservation efforts have to go beyond protecting the nesting colonies. Fisheries quotas must be reduced to sustainable levels, and possible even curtailed in the birds essential foraging ranges. The survival of Cape Gannet populations is intrinsically linked with the health of Southern Africa’s marine ecosystems.

SHARK: saving the most important fish in the sea

 

Scientists estimate that worldwide up to 73 million sharks are killed every year and as a result 50 species are listed as vulnerable or in danger of extinction. Vast fishing fleets comb our oceans catching sharks primarily for their fins, a sought after commodity used in shark fin soup. One of the greatest challenges in marine conservation today is to instill in people a sense of wonder in the ocean that will not only awaken a feeling of ownership but also foster responsibility towards its inhabitants, especially sharks.

The Senegalese philosopher Baba Dioum said ‘In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, we will understand only what we are taught.’ Every person who gains an understanding of and love for sharks will bring us one step closer to putting a permanent end to the destructive activities of the shark nets, long-liners and trawlers that are collectively killing millions of sharks and ultimately destroying two thirds of our planet in the process. The ocean is our planet’s switch of life and in more ways then we care to acknowledge, we too, just like sharks depend on a healthy marine realm for our own survival. 

Saving the Ocean - One Photograph at a Time

My new BLOG: "Saving the Ocean - One Photograph at a Time" is finally up and running.

I have one single minded mission. I am determined to create photographs that make a difference and change human behavior that is damaging to the ocean. I want my images to educate, inspire, mesmerize and create an appreciation for the fragile marine realm and, in a small way, contribute to safeguarding the world’s oceans for future generations.

My website will continue to be my platform for image galleries and longer features. I hope that my new BLOG will be a more immediate tool to share my thoughts and ideas and to communicate conservation concerns and successes.

National Geographic Magazine

The July issue of National Geographic Magazine features my photo story on manta rays 'Feeding Frenzy'. It documents for the first time a massive feeding aggregation of 200+ manta rays and half a dozen whale sharks in the Maldives. This natural history spectacle was discovered by Save our Seas Foundation  marine biologist Guy Stevens.

Watch a video of the assignment here

Shark Nets - The real killers of the sea?

To coincide with the publication of my cover story in the May issue of Africa Geographic magazine, we (Save our Seas Foundation) have created a 11 minute multi-media feature combining photography, video and audio. Shark Nets: The Real Killers of the Sea? investigates the shark nets that have been killing sharks off South Africa's east coast in the name of bather protection for more than 50 years.

Please visit:  www.saveourseas.com/sharknets

BBC Wildlife Aldabra Portfolio

The february issue of BBC Wildlife magazine features my portfolio on the marine biodiversity of Aldabra. I took the photographs while on a month long Save our Seas Foundation expedition to the remote Indian Ocean atoll in 2008.

Djibouti Expedition 2009

I have just returned from a very succesfull 18-day expedition to Djioubti, a small rarely visited country on the Horn of Africa sandwiched between Somalia and Eritrea. The expedition, a collaborative effort between the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles, MEGAPTERA and the Save our Seas Foundation, researched and documented a unique populations of whale sharks. We accomplished a few photographic and scientific world firsts so watch this space for more information.

Climate Change Book

One of my sardine run photographs is featured as a DPS in a new book titled A CLIMATE FOR LIFE: Meeting the Global Challenge. This seminal work examines the impact of climate change on biodiversity and focuses on the most important challenges currently facing life on our planet.

With a foreword co-authored by eminent Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson and actor Harrison Ford the book examines the enormous impact of climate change on biodiversity and focuses on how nature itself might provide some of the solutions to this challenge. This lavishly produced volume is illustrated with over 175 photographs by esteemed members of the International League of Conservation Photographers, a nonprofit organization that uses the power of photography to help educate the world and to further conservation goals.

Africa Geographic Aldabra

The December 2008 issue of Africa Geographic features my cover story on the Save our Seas Foundation Expedition to the remote Indian Ocean atoll of Aldabra. My arrival on the atoll was greeted by a school of 50 blacktip reef sharks and I immediately knew that I have entered a venerable shark paradise. After years wondering what it would have been like to have explored the Caribbean before Columbus or dive California’s kelp forests before overfishing, this assignment made my dreams of exploring and documenting a marine ecosystem untouched by the hand of man come true.

BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008

On October 29th, 2008, my photograph ‘Sardine Snapper’ was awarded a specially commended prize in the Underwater World category of the 2008 BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. After winning the black and white category last year I was very pleased to again have my work feature in this prestigious competition that attracts in excess of 32,000 entries.