Underwater Adventures The worlds oceans offer such amazing experiences but they are in peril and protecting them is in the interests of all people around the world

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Australia | Thursday, August 5, 2010 | 5 photos

As a passionate scuba diver, amateur photographer and adventurer I travelled aboard the Undersea Explorer live aboard scuba diving boat on a trip from Port Douglas in Queensland, Australia, up the Ribbon Reefs of the Great Barrier Reef to find the elusive Dwarf Minke Whales (Photo titled “DMW 1”).

The trip was organised to allow scuba divers to observe the whales in the wild and the research being undertaken into these amazing creatures by a resident marine biologist. The fees paid by the scuba divers help to fund the critical research being undertaken into these truly amazing creatures.

The whales are as inquisitive of humans as we are of them and each time we found them we would slip into the water with the marine biologist to observe and photograph them. As the bubbles from scuba tanks frighten the whales we would swim to ropes attached to the boat (Photo titled “DMW 2”) and allow these gentle creatures of the deep to become comfortable enough with our presence to approach us (Photo titled “DMW 3”).

My favourite photo is the one where I was upside down in the water with a group of whales when one of them suddenly decided to rise vertically to the surface to breath, which allowed me to quickly point my camera at it and take this unexpected photograph (Photo titled “DMW 4”).

The serenity and amazing sunsets of the Great Barrier Reef only made the experience all the more memorable (Photo titled “DMW 5”).

I feel very privileged to have participated in this expedition, which also further fuelled my desire and ambition to learn enough so that one day I am able to pursue nature photography as a profession.

I hope that my submission to the World Nomads Travel Photography Scholarship to Bhutan will take me a step closer to realising my dream.