After several technical issues, weather delays and extensive planing, we have finally officially started filming the IMAX Great Barrier Reef in partnership with December Media & Biopixel. 
Our first trip took us to our Turtle Hospital, followed buy a release of our little Green Turtle "Leo Di Carapace" at Flyn Reef. 

The release went well and was extremely quick, which is a good sign. After some underwater shooting in rather challenging conditions we where heading to Green Island to get some 3D action shots of local Salt water Crocodiles. Next in the pipeline are the Manta Rays of Lady Elliot, followed by the inquisitive Minke Whale visiting the far Northern Reefs. 

As exciting as it seems, sometimes i wish technology wouldn't advance as quick as it does. You are just getting used to one drone, there comes the next one, better, faster, saver and you have to make up arguments to justify spending money you don't have. 

Having worked with blue whales before, i knew the Inspire 2 will give us this extra bit of advantage to make this next expedition even more successful. Longer flight time, extra safety with 2 batteries, DNG Raw format, 5.2 K video, higher frame rates, over 90 km/h top speed, increased range .... well, i had to. 
Bottom line: this is without any doubt the perfect tool and all the specs above paid off. Lets hope they don't make one even better within the next 2 years. 

The Snotbot team has just returned from another breathtaking expedition from Loreto (mexico). This time for shooting a special edition for National Geographic, which gave me the opportunity to put my talent to good use. 

Certainly my expectations where high, but what nature has presented us once again was much higher. Can you imagine over 20 Blue Whales lunge feeding on the service within feet of our tiny boat ? The expedition was a huge success, the whales had plenty to eat ... and so did we ! 
It seemed to be a lot of ask for, taking breath condensate samples of the largest animal that ever lived on our planet. But we did pick the right place and the right time. The marine park of Loretto was filled with bio mass, the amount of Krill was hard to even believe. During Day time the Krill is down deep, means the whales are feeding deeper, meaning longer dive times and harder to predict. Early in the morning and late at night this delicious whale feast is moving towards the surface - resulting into a spectacular lunge feeding show. It was surprisingly easy to find the animals and stay with them. 
This feeding fancy also attracted other relatives, such as the Fin Whale, Sei Whale, Humpback, Minke and even Orcas. 
Pair all of this with the breathtaking Mexican landscapes, the friendly and welcoming locals and mouth watering cuisine, i guess you will understand while we are already playing to come back next year again. 

I am stoked and honoured to receive the first Place award of the "Ocean Art Competition" 2016 in the conceptional Category with one of my all time favourite Turtle Shots. 
I want to congratulate all the other inspiring Photographers out there that have either won or tried. 
​I am lucky to receive a trip to Sulawesi, which comes with perfect timing to get deeper into the Plastic solution around Asia Pacific. 

Spending Christmas in Bali and Lombok was a start to get an idea on how big the Ocean Debris issue is in Asia Pacific. As you may have guessed .... it is huge. 
Together with Parley this is going to be one of our big projects for 2017 and it will be challenging. 

The good news is, i could certainly see a lot of businesses, hotels, pubs and restaurants to reduce the consumption of single use plastics and come up with alternatives such as bamboo straws. 
I could also see a lot of signs and smart approaches to make everyone aware of the issues. 
We are now scanning for the best partners and will start to initiate pilot projects in Indonesia and Malaysia! 
I can't wait to get it started! 

It was long in the planing, but finally our production of the second IMAX movie shot on the Great Barrier Reef is finally here. This week we jumped into a pool to test the equipment, allign the cameras, play with the focusing and the image composition required to shoot a big screen 3D movie. 
In the image you see Richard Fitzpatrick aiming to frame a Pool shark and also playing with the new Gates UW lights. Outside the Pool is Stephen from December Media taking notes of all the settings. 
I can't wait for the first official Ocean shoot .... 

A shoe made from Ocean Plastic ? Does that sound weird to you ? 
It is now reality. Exactly one year ago we have taken Adidas to the Maldives to introduce a new concept of making shoes and at the same time cleaning up the mess all of us (humans) have created. 
Now, 12 months later its all reality. Adidas is releasing the first 1 Million Shoes made from Plastic bottles from the beautiful islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean. 
The Parley Strategy "AIR" - Avoid : Intercept : Redesign has been put into Action, and it is only the start. 

Ocean School - consist of different activities including Scuba Diving, Snorkelling, Surfing, SUP, School Projects, Beach Cleanups, Workshops and Ambassador Parley Talks. 
It is such an honour not only creating the vision for this project, but also to be an Ocean Ambassador alongside with Emily Penn, Kahi Pacarro and Iain Kerr. 
This year was a huge success and we can't wait to see what other changes Adidas can make. Millions of Plastic bottles have already been taking away from ocean pollution and landfill, making the Maldives more beautiful, our oceans cleaner, and giving us a product with an inspirational Message! Its time to change - NOW! 

Parley is doing it again! I was heading straight from the Philippines to Catalina Island, a small piece of paradise right in from of Los Angeles. 
Artist Doug Aitken is building outer space looking underwater Spheres in collaboration with Parley for the Oceans. Despite the cold water, i did fall in love with Californias breathtaking underwater world! 

Winning photography Awards is a great honour by itself, but receiving some of the best dive trips is an pleasant added bonus. Natures Best Photography awarded me with an unforgettable trip to the Philippines, which i will certainly never forget. 

Highlights such as diving with 15 giant Whale sharks, being surrounded by trillions of sardines, capturing the Flamboyant Cuttle fish hunting at night and submerge in some of the most pristine and alive coral Reefs i have ever seen. I will be back .... 

Once again I am back home in Cairns, for a short time. Together with my friend, shark biologist and Emmy Award winning filmmaker Richard Fitzpatrick, we are setting up a foundation to protect our beloved Great Barrier Reef. 

Work will include shark tagging programs to further set up marine protected areas, manta ray and turtle research and a youth ambassador program I am extremely passionate about. And if that's not enough, we are also getting ready to film the new IMAX film about the Great Barrier Reef ! 

IUCN, Obama announcing the world's largest marine park and Parley's launch of the Deep Space Project, all happening at the same time. 
I was lucky to meet some real leaders in conservation and also deep sea exploration, including my favourite Ocean Hero once again, Sylvia Earle. 
But I was also fortunate enough to spend time with my friend Kahi, the founder of Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii. His organisation is working tirelessly on cleaning up the islands' beaches, but also educating, and working on solutions to eliminate plastics to wash up on our shores.

I have seen a lot of ocean plastic, but it was never so evident what micro plastic means, and how it just keeps breaking up into smaller pieces, eventually ending up on our own plate, in our own bodies, impacting our lives. Maybe this will make human's change, finally ? ... 

Seeing Alaska's natural beauty felt like this is how our planet once must have been, and probably still should be. Nature is dominating this part of the world, but more important for us, the whales are dominating! 

Humpback Whales migrate here to Frederik Sound is large numbers. The reason: krill. A lot of krill.  Nothing is more spectacular to watch than whales side launching, bubble feeding and breaching. But we weren't here to enjoy the scenery, there was a clear goal to collect data,  

without the whale even knowing. That's the idea of Snotbot. A drone flying through the 'blow' of the whale, collecting a real treasure of biological information, basically, everything about the whale in real time! In addition, we also had Earbot, a drone with a hydrophone, and Flirbot, capturing night vision and the temperature of the whales. The more we know about the whales, the more we can eliminate impacts on them, and hopefully come up with solutions to better protect them!