07
If I don’t use a certain lens,
so be it, but if I need it at
least it’s in the bag
Have you ever been put in a life-threatening
situation while at work?
Many years ago my then partner and I were doing a
story from Cocos to Malpelo. Malpelo is the ‘Jurassic
Park’ of the underwater world. I have never seen a
wilder place with huge marine life. The hammerhead
sharks, eels, and general reef fish were so large I
felt like I was on another planet. A cavern there
was known for hosting as many as 50 eels, with an
entrance and exit on either side of the rocky outcrop.
At only 12m (40ft) deep we began to feel a surge and
decided to wait for it to subside. But, it didn’t. While
the captain helped drag me out of the entrance, my
partner got sucked down to 21m (70ft) and spat out
of the exit at a rapid ascent.
06 Soft corals, Rainbow
Simon Marsh was there and
Reef in Taveuni, Fiji
when at the surface, we looked
07 Scuba divers at
at each other with the same
Kittiwake Wreck,
thought: my partner was gone
Cayman Islands,
and there was nothing we could Caribbean
do. The skiff circled the rock
several times, and there he was on board, shaken
but alive with no decompression problems. He had
used his camera system to bounce off the walls and
avoid getting pummeled. It was only me who was
damaged as my hands were bloody from grasping
the urchin covered rocks to pull myself to safety.
Who is your hero underwater and why?
Now I’ll date myself. Chris Newbert was the first
photographer I idolised and he is semi-retired.
Then, of course, David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes.
David and Jen are an incomparable team and two
of the most considerate and sharing people in
the industry. SDOP