Urban Marine Wildlife

For the last few years I have been developing a portfolio of underwater images which show the rich UK marine life we are lucky to have in close proximity to human populations. Coastal artificial structures can provide a fantastic habitat for marine life to colonise. These urban marine environments are easily overlooked or difficult to access but can support a surprising amount of marine species in some very unexpected places! For example, quay walls, piers and pontoons can be colonised by diverse, colourful  and sometimes rare marine flora and fauna just metres away from bustling industrial ports, busy harbours or waterside offices. Despite working professionally in marine ecology I have been surprised at how rich these areas can be with highlights including delicate peacock worm communities on the side of piers, colourful mussel and sponge communities on pontoons and dense juvenile jellyfish aggregations next to huge ships in docks. It was great news to find out that ones of these images of a spider crab at Swanage Pier was 'highly commended' in the 2020 Underwater Photographer of the Year in the 'Living Together' category. 

Secrets of the Solent

Urban marine environments are easily overlooked or difficult to access but can support a surprising amount of marine species in some very unexpected places! Areas like Southampton Water are not locations where most people would expect to find marine life with its industrial history and often murky waters! Its definitely not your typical' Blue Planet' location! However, interesting marine life can be seen  just metres away from bustling industrial ports, busy harbours or waterside offices. With this in mind I set out on a mission last year to capture images which showcase natural history against a backdrop of Southampton's rich maritime heritage.To capture the photos I used a kayak as swimming or diving in the busy waters of Southampton is not recommended!

Working in estuary environments such as the Solent area is definitely not ideal for underwater photography with poor visibility (due to lots of particles in the water) making it difficult to get often get sharp images. I had to wait for the best conditions possible and work with the conditions available. It took lots of planning to ensure the right conditions and many attempts.

Several images from this collection were recently featured on the cover and in Hampshire Life and were finalists in Underwater Photographer of the Year .

Jellyfish images used online in the Telegraph and Guardian

Good to see my images of jellyfish being used in the Telegraph (12 August 2017) and Guardian (3 October 2017) via Alamy.

Snorkelling with grey seals at the Isles of Scilly

The Eastern Isles  are a group of small uninhabited islands within the Isles of Scilly. This summer I headed to the islands to go snorkelling with grey seals. The Eastern Isles hold one of the largest seal colonies in South West England. These seals are used to humans interacting with them in the water and are often very playful and curious. The seals around the Eastern Isles along with a small handful of other colonies in the UK (such as around Lundy Island, the Farne Islands and Skomer Island) are the only colonies in which such interactions with divers and snorkellers are a common occurrence. Very stormy weather has prevented me making the journey across on the Scillonian from Penzance earlier in the year. Anyone who has been on the boat previously will know this boat isn't much fun in a storm!

Finally, the bad weather settled and I was able to make the journey to the islands from the mainland. The experience was excellent and would really recommend visiting the islands. Unfortunately, visibility wasn't as good as it can be but nevertheless some of the seals ventured very close, allowing me to get some descent shots. In addition to the grey seals, lots of blue jellyfish were also present. 

Seahorse image in Saga magazine

One of my Studland Bay long-snouted seahorse images was used at a life size scale in the August 2016 edition of Saga magazine! The article was a great piece all about protecting the marine environment!

Loggerhead Turtle in National Geographic Kids Magazine

One of images of a loggerhead turtle taken in Belize was recently featured on the front cover of National Geographic Kids.

Coast Magazine Article

I was really pleased to be interviewed in the September edition of the excellent Coast magazine.The feature was all about my split level photography in the UK. It was a four page spread with a good selection of my images used.