10 Ocean Storytellers You Need to Know

Some people write about the ocean. Some study it in labs, others debate it in policy papers.

And then there are these people.

Twenty metres down, holding their breath waiting for the perfect moment to catch a whale's eye. Documenting coral spawning on the Great Barrier Reef at midnight. Capturing feisty leopard seals alongside giant icebergs. Swimming calmly alongside tiger sharks in Hawaii. Freediving with orcas beneath the Aurora Borealis in Arctic waters. Or exposing the world's most destructive fishing practices—whaling, dynamite fishing, industrial trawling.

You can feel it in their work: this isn't a career choice. It's in their DNA. There's no going back.

They love the ocean so fiercely that urge of documenting and sharing through their lens has become their life's work.

99% of us will never see what they see. We'll never witness what's happening in that vast, hidden world. In fact, 70% humans never get the chance to dive or snorkel, or see life below water. But through their eyes, their cameras, their courage—we can feel it. We can care.

We can count land-based photographers in the millions.
But ocean and underwater photographers? Maybe a few hundred.

And yet the ocean represents more than 95% of the space where life can exist on Earth.

So yes, these people carry a huge responsibility - they deserve to be celebrated all day everyday!

At Ocean Born Foundation, we believe photography is one of the most powerful tools for ocean conservation. It doesn't just document—it transforms. It turns science into emotion. Distance into connection. Indifference into action.

Here's our small but mighty selection of ocean storytellers whose work moves us deeply. People dedicating their lives to making the world fall in love with the ocean.

Follow them. Support them. Give them a hug if you ever get the chance.

They're out there fighting for all of us.

1. Cristina Mittermeier

Mitty is one of the greatest ocean storytellers of all time. As co-founder of SeaLegacy, she's helped redefine what ocean storytelling can do—not just show beauty, but move people to protect it. She is why we call it storytelling and not photography.

Mitty has been part of the Ocean Born story, and we are huge admirers of the work she's done personally and through SeaLegacy.

Don't miss any opportunity to hear Mitty share her journey and stories - you'll be inspired like few people ever inspired you :) She'll make you feel the urgency in your bones. She reminds us all that conservation isn't only about protecting wildlife—it's about protecting cultures, communities, and the ways of life connected to the sea.

2. Julia Ochs

Julia Ochs is a badass photographer, ocean advocate, founder of the Ocean Gallery in Berlin, and a dear friend.

Her work has taken her from icy waters swimming with pods of orcas in Norway below the northern lights to the harsh reality of fishing trawlers, documenting the hidden cost of destructive practices most of us will never see.

Ocean Gallery was created as a place where art and activism meet—using photography to raise awareness, generate support, and bring people together around ocean protection.

She's not just sharing incredible stories of the ocean with us. She's asking: what kind of relationship do we want to have with the ocean as humans?

Visit Ocean Gallery if you are ever in Berlin! Support her work!

3. Paul Nicklen

Paul Nicklen is a living legend. The kind of photographer who makes children dream of becoming explorers.

Co-founder of SeaLegacy and longtime National Geographic photographer, Paul has spent his life documenting some of the most remote, cold, wild, and breathtaking places on Earth.

His work has helped millions see climate change not as an abstract concept, but as something visible, immediate, and heartbreaking.

Polar bears. Leopard seals. Ice. Whales. Disappearing worlds.

Paul's photography has shaped how many of us imagine the polar ocean.

4. Karim Iliya

Karim Iliya has one of those feeds that make you unable to stop scrolling - your mouth wide open.

Whales, volcanoes, remote islands, endangered species, wildest places—his work feels like a love letter to our blue planet.

He's worked in over 45 countries, won tons of awards, and been featured by National Geographic and BBC Earth, especially for his whale photography and films. He reminds us that the ocean is a place of mystery, intelligence, scale, and the theater of so much unseen emotion.

The kind of photography that makes people whisper: "Wait, WTF, this really exists?"

5. Vetea Liao

Vetea Liao is one of our ambassadors from Tahiti, and someone whose work we admire deeply.

He's a marine biologist, photographer, and co-founder/director of Tama no te Tairoto (means "Children of the Reef" in Tahitian)—a Polynesian organization protecting the lagoons of French Polynesia and sharing knowledge passed down through generations.

One of his most remarkable discoveries? The synchronized daytime spawning of Porites rus corals— he discovered a spectacular event where corals all spawn simultaneously, tens of thousands of kilometers away. How cool is that? How do you think he discovered this? Ask him!
Vetea's work is rooted in tahitian culture, marine science, and boundless love for the lagoon.

Follow both his photography and Tama no te Tairoto.

6. Fabrice Jaine

Fabrice Jaine makes you wonder how many lives one person can fit into a lifetime. He's a marine scientist, PhD researcher, underwater photographer, expedition leader, and science communicator. He is also on the Ocean Born Foundation's scientific advisory board.

His research spans manta ray ecology, animal tracking, marine megafauna, and conservation. He completed his PhD as part of Australia's Project Manta and has worked extensively on manta and devil ray research worldwide.

He's also an award-winning photographer for quite obvious reasons, as you will soon discover. His work brings together the eye of a passionate & caring artist's natural instinct for light, stillness, and wonder - with the scientist's intimate understanding of the creatures he photographs.

7. Matt Porteous

Matt Porteous has been a long supporter of Ocean Born Foundation - and we have a huge amount to thank him for.

He's one of those rare photographers who moves between worlds with incredible ease. One day photographing the British Royal Family. The next, using his lens to bring people closer to the ocean, to wild places, and to the quiet beauty of life beneath the surface.

An award-winning photographer from Jersey, Matt is also co-founder of Ocean Culture with Tamsin Raine—a global community of ocean storytellers built around one simple belief: that stories can change the way people see, feel, and act.

Matt's work is intimate. Human. Full of soul. Whether he's photographing a royal moment, a breaking wave, or the people fighting to protect the sea, there's always the same thread: tenderness, vulnerability, honesty, and deep respect.

Follow him, and follow Ocean Culture - the work he and Tamsin are doing to give the ocean a stronger voice!

8. Mads St Clair

Mads St Clair is impossible not to admire.

She's a coral reef biologist, conservation photographer-filmmaker, expedition leader, founder of Women in Ocean Science, and one of the most exciting ocean storytellers of our generation.

Her work sits exactly where we believe the future of ocean conservation needs to be: between science, storytelling, courage, and community.

Through Women in Ocean Science, Mads has created a platform to elevate female voices in the ocean space—celebrating women scientists, photographers, filmmakers, and conservationists who are too often underrepresented.

She was named Oceanographic Magazine's 2024 Storyteller in Residence. Her work has taken her from coral reef research and bioacoustics to Greenland, Timor-Leste, West Papua, and some of the most remote ocean stories on Earth.

Mads had been a long supporter of Ocean Born, and we have a lot to thank her for!

You will find that Mads images are much more than that — they're full of purpose. She doesn't simply document the ocean. She listens. Studies. Fights for it. And makes space for others to be heard too.

Follow Mads if you want to see what happens when science, brilliant talent, and heart come together.

9. Shawn Heinrichs

Shawn Heinrichs is one of those rare people who completely changes the way you see the ocean.

An Emmy-winning cinematographer, photographer, conservationist, and co-founder of Only One, Shawn has spent decades using storytelling not simply to document marine life, but to protect it. His work has helped bring global attention to shark conservation, manta ray protection, overfishing, and the urgent need for a healthier relationship between humanity and the sea.

What makes Shawn’s work so powerful is the emotion behind it. His images are cinematic, immersive, and deeply human. Whether filming whale sharks beneath the surface, documenting endangered species, or creating large-scale conservation campaigns, there is always the same message running through his work: awe, connection, empathy, and responsibility.

Shawn doesn’t separate art from activism. He uses beauty as a tool for change - helping people fall back in love with the ocean so they feel compelled to protect it.

He has been a huge supporter of the ocean community for years, and his influence on modern marine conservation storytelling is impossible to ignore.

Follow Shawn if you want to see what happens when creativity, courage, and purpose come together for the planet.

10. Brian Skerry is one of the greatest ocean storytellers of our time.

For decades, he has brought the underwater world closer to millions of people through photography that is both breathtaking and deeply emotional. As a National Geographic photographer, filmmaker, and conservationist, Brian has spent thousands of hours beneath the surface documenting marine life, from whales and sharks to coral reefs and fragile ecosystems most people will never have the chance to witness themselves.

What makes Brian’s work so powerful is that it never feels distant. His images are intimate. Full of feeling. He has a remarkable ability to capture personality, emotion, and connection in the animals he photographs, reminding people that the ocean is not separate from us - it is alive, vulnerable, and worth protecting.

Through award-winning projects, films, and decades of storytelling, Brian has helped shape the way the world understands the sea and the urgent challenges it faces. His work has inspired generations of photographers, filmmakers, scientists, and conservationists to care more deeply about our blue planet.

Brian has been a huge voice for ocean conservation for many years, and the impact of his storytelling reaches far beyond photography alone.

This list is far from exhaustive. There are hundreds of immensely skilled ocean storytellers out there capturing the ocean’s beauty, magic, mystery and vulnerability. Capturing the millions of ways we could fall in love with her.

They have done the hard work - the least we can do is celebrate them! By following and sharing their work, we can all play a part in raising awareness and protecting this beautiful ocean our lives depend on!

Who are your personal favourite ocean storytellers? Can you tag them in the comments?