The Velvet Bed

I couldn’t have imagined a better setting to photograph seals. Beneath the Sentinel peak offshore Hout Bay, Duiker Island hosts a colony of Cape Fur seals. I was swimming around the colonies fringes when I decided to go explore the surrounding kelp forest. This bed of velvet coloured red algae caught my eye. the channel of kelp made a perfect frame. I thought if only I could ask some seals to pose for me. To my amazement when I turned around, some curious seals had swum with me on my adventure away from the colony. I swam down to get my framing right when this young seal lay down in the bed of velvet, stared at me for a second and then swam away.

Bow Riders

Each year huge shoals of sardines travel with a cold water current along the east coast of South Africa to spawn. This attracts the attention of mega fauna such as common dolphins (pictured), sharks and even whales that feast on the bounty. Common dolphins often can be seen swimming in large pods. A passing boat provides becomes a game and the dolphins all seem to enjoy swimming in front of the bow. To take this image I lay on a plank extended in front of the moving boat to get ahead of the wake and precariously lowered my prized water housing into the water to get the shot.

Lurking in the Shallows

My best images alway come in unexpected moments. I had just seen a pod of dusky dolphins close to shore that I was hoping to swim to. By the time I jumped in they had swam past me already and I thought I’d wait in the shallows incase they came back. The reef was beautifully lit that day, the visibility was clear. I was gawking at all the beautiful colours on the reef when a Pyjama Shark lurking through the shallows swam right past my dome.

Below and Above

During the summer when the offshore south east winds blow, cold clear water from deep below upwells the surface. I took this image of a wave breaking over a lesser known reef in Cape Town. Through the wave one can see the 12 apostles mountain range and below a healthy reef full of red bait with colourful sandy anemones in between.