Marine Mammal Photography
OCEAN STORYTELLING AT THE WILD EDGES OF earth, sea and sky
Marine mammals are utterly majestic
Being in the presence of marine mammals is awe-inspiring. They surface briefly into our world before returning to depths beyond human reach. Each encounter happens at a threshold, a liminal crossing between earth, sea and sky that reminds us how much of life exists beyond our usual field of vision.
My work with whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals is rooted in a participatory way of seeing. I am not there to take from the encounter, but to listen, to witness and to translate moments of connection into visual stories that hold both wonder and responsibility.
Marine Mammals gallery
Whales are architects of the ocean
For the brief moments whales surface, they share messages of intelligence moving through vast systems of connection. These animals shape the sea itself. As a keystone species, whales cycle nutrients from the deep to the surface, fuelling plankton blooms that support entire food webs. Through this process, they play a vital role in regulating the planet’s carbon balance, quietly influencing the climate that sustains us all.
To witness a whale surface is to glimpse the hidden scaffolding of the living ocean. These moments carry wonder, yes, but they also carry responsibility. They remind us that the ocean is not an abstract expanse, but a finely tuned, relational system, and that our lives are intricately connected to.
My work with marine mammals holds this understanding and it underpins both my storytelling and advocacy. Each image holds the memory of that threshold moment, when something ancient rises, breathes and returns, leaving us forever changed by having been present.
A practice shaped by science and lived relationship
My academic background in geography and marine protected areas underpins how I work in the field. I immerse deeply in learning, the deep textures of behaviours and patterns help to shape how I see and connect with these moment. Knowing more about migration patterns and seasonal rhythms inform when and how I photograph marine mammals, ensuring encounters remain ethical, respectful and led by the animals themselves.
I specialise in storytelling that sits between disciplines. Science and intuition. Data and devotion. The visible and the felt. This allows the work with conservation organisations and research teams to resonate more deeply with wider audiences who may be encountering these species for the first time.
My approach prioritises minimising disturbance and attunement to the environment. The strongest images emerge when control loosens, attention deepens and we open our hearts to a participatory way of being.
President of the board of Trustees – Whale Wise
Serving on the board of Whale Wise has enabled me to offer my skills, experience and time in service of the organisation, both strategically and in the field. I work alongside the incredible Whale Wise team during research seasons, spending time on vessels and within field operations, capturing the stories of their work, the data they gather and the whales we encounter together.
Being present within the research itself shapes how I tell these stories. It grounds my imagery and understanding and allows visual storytelling to become a bridge between science and wider public understanding. Beyond the camera, I act as a sounding board and strategic contributor, helping to guide the direction of Whale Wise as it grows, evolves and responds to the changing realities facing marine mammals.
If you would like to learn more about Whale Wise, explore current research or support the protection of marine mammals through donation or collaboration, you can find out more below.
The Whale Wise Story
Whale Wise work at the intersection of science, advocacy and community engagement, building one of the largest catalogues of humpback whales in Icelandic waters.
Their mission is clear: to promote and inform the sustainable use of our ocean in a way that centres the protection of marine mammals, working towards an ocean in which both whales and humans can thrive.
Through long-term research, public engagement and targeted advocacy, Whale Wise study the interactions between whale populations and human activity to inform real conservation action.
Entanglement in fishing gear remains one of the leading threats to large whales. Around 25 percent of Icelandic humpbacks show signs of entanglement, including a whale known as Bird. This work brings those realities into focus, translating data into understanding and understanding into protection.
This film is part of that ongoing story. A visual record shaped by time in the field, relationship with place and a shared commitment to care.
An ocean of stories
These stories emerge from time spent in the field, where marine mammal photography, research and rescue converge. They are shaped by readiness and response, by learning when to act and when to wait, and by the responsibility that comes with witnessing life at the ocean’s edge.
Some moments call for discernment and care, reading behaviour, tides and team work to observe or coordinate a response. Others demand that harm is seen and named, bearing witness to entanglement, displacement and the impacts of human activity in the marine environment. There are also days of collective hope, when data gathered on the water becomes a powerful tool for protection, shaping future sanctuary and conservation efforts.
Taken together, these stories reflect a practice of listening. Listening to animals, to ecosystems and to warning signs. They offer a grounded account of marine mammal conservation as it is lived, complex, urgent and quietly transformative.
Northern bottlenose whales in shallow waters
Northern bottlenose whales are deep-sea mammals rarely seen by humans. This story documents repeated sightings in shallow waters at Önundarfjörður pier, raising both wonder and concern following a series of strandings and deaths of this species in the region.
Ísafjörður humpback whale survey – 60 whales in one day
During a research survey with Whale Wise and Sjóferðir in Ísafjörður, Iceland, sixty humpback whales were recorded in a single day, the largest survey of its kind in the region. The data gathered is being used to advocate for a protected sanctuary area within the fjord.
Bird – rescuing an entangled humpback whale
An encounter with an entangled humpback whale reveals the ongoing threat of fishing gear and marine debris. This story sits at the intersection of marine mammal conservation, entanglement response and the responsibility of bearing witness in the field.
Seal pup rescue and coastal monitoring
Seal pups are often seen resting on beaches between tides, but some become separated from their mothers and require intervention. This story explores how to read seal pup behaviour, when to observe and when rescue support is needed, based on real field experience.
encounters with Orca in Iceland & Norway
This story traces encounters across the Arctic and sub-Arctic, from distant summer sightings in Lofoten to close, breath-held moments on the water near Skjervøy and along Iceland’s Snæfellsnes coast. It explores seasonal movement, herring-driven behaviour and the tension between awe and responsibility in places where whales and human activity converge.
An unexpected rescue – a beaver in the sea
As a volunteer Marine Mammal Medic with British Divers Marine Life Rescue, I support wildlife rescue along the UK coast. This story follows the rescue of a beaver found swimming in saltwater, working alongside BDMLR and the Environment Agency to safely rehabilitate and return the animal to the wild.
oceanographic magazine
Ocean Photographer of the Year 2024
Conservation & Impact – 2nd place
The Ocean Photographer of the Year is co-presented by Oceanographic Magazine and Blancpain. ‘Its a celebration of our beautiful blue planet, as well as a platform to highlight the many plights it is facing.’
‘Ocean photographers of all disciplines and experience levels – amateurs and professionals alike – are invited to submit their most impactful imagery to be judged by a panel of ocean photographers, editors and museum/gallery curators.’
‘A total of 118 ocean images are recognised each year, connecting with millions of people around the world via digital, print and in-person exhibitions.’
Ways we can work together
I work with purpose led organisations, agencies and publications who value integrity, depth and long-term impact to protect our planet. This includes marine mammal photography and film, drone-based storytelling, editorial and documentary commissions, conservation-led campaigns, exhibitions, speaking and written work.
Photography can open hearts. Science gives us the tools to act. My work exists where those two meet, translating research, responsibility and relationship into stories that can be felt, shared and mobilised. Because I firmly believe that if we spark curiosity, wonder and awe, people will feel emboldened to take action to protect what they love.
If you are seeking imagery and storytelling that honours marine mammals as sentient co-creators rather than passive subjects, I would love to hear from you.
Features, exhibitions and previous work
My ocean storytelling and marine mammal photography has been featured and exhibited internationally across editorial, exhibition and conservation contexts, where science, story and advocacy converge. This includes Islandness, a solo exhibition in partnership with the National Trust, Sjórinn talar – The Sea Speaks at the Whales of Iceland Museum, Reykjavík, and second place in the Impact/Conservation Category in the Ocean Photographer of the Year awards. My imagery has supported conservation storytelling through collaborations such as Dryrobe x Whale Wise and an INSTAX project documenting orca encounters in Tromsø.
Islandness
National TrusT
Scotney Castle
ApR – Oct 2025
A solo exhibition exploring liminal moments where earth, sea and sky meet.
Sjórinn talar – The Sea Speaks
Whales of Iceland Museum, Reykjavík
Jul – OCT 2025
An immersive ocean advocacy exhibition using underwater photography and story.
Arctic Canvas – Creative Residency
Snæfellsnes Peninsula, Iceland
Summer 2025
Two-week creative residency focused on deep nature connection, slow observation and creating a sculpture for my Sjórinn Talar exhibition.
Ocean Photographer of the Year
Seaworks Melbourne
Jan – july 2025
Images of category winners and finalists for the 2024 awards, exhibited at this ocean focused museum.
Ocean Photographer of the Year
Australian Maritime Museum – Sydney
jan – april 2025
An immersive exhibition of the category winners and finalists for the 2024 awards.
Wild Edges
POW Thanet & Albion House Hotel
July – oct 2024
A bold visual inquiry into wildness, story and the feminine at the edge of land and sea, blending portraits and place-based storytelling.
Stories & field notes
my story
Positive disruptions & new lenses for seeing
My journey into ocean conservation and photography hasn’t followed a neat, linear path. It has been shaped by positive disruptions, profound moments that changed everything and saw my story unravelled and rewritten.
Having suffered with chronic motion sickness my whole life, my late in life ADHD diagnosis led to medication that inadvertently cured the curse of being confined to the shoreline.
New lenses to see the world with, both literally and metaphorically. One that rewrote my own narrative and enabled me to immerse in nature in ways that felt like coming home.
And through this remembering, I rewilded my connection to nature and explored spaces I never thought would be possible for me.
Rewilding our connection to nature
begins with remembering we are part of nature
Marine mammals remind us of intelligence beyond our own, of cultures carried through oceans and of lives shaped by tides. They live in relationship, navigating vast distances and when we pause long enough to truly witness them, something ancient stirs. A recognition. A soft unravelling of the story that placed humans above, rather than within. In remembering them, we remember ourselves, as kin, as caretakers, as beings shaped by water, wonder and belonging.
PRINT SHOP
Add some wonder
to your walls
fine art prints that
spark awe & fuel change
Curated collections of images, captured at the wildest of edges for you to welcome home.
Each image is printed bespoke to order on sustainable Hahnemühle bamboo paper at the UK’s first carbon negative lab.
10% of the Print Shop profit donated to Whale Wise.
Ordered online and delivered directly to your door.
