The forces are massing! Its that time of the year again, where we wait in expectation of an annual natural spectacle of truly epic potential. I am down in East London at the moment with one of the Earth-Touch Marine crews, Barry Skinstad and Ian Cook, covering the build up to Sardine Run 2009. This image of a common dolphin leaping out of the water was shot this morning, part of a large hunting pod that we estimated to contain between 500 and 1000 animals. To follow our progress daily, check out the Earth-Touch Marine blog, or follow us on Twitter.

I have been working through my archive recently in preparation for a stock submission. This is one of my favourite shots from that climb of our group descending Kilimanjaro, as the sun rises off to our left.

This is another, the ‘Judge”, Daniel Ramczyk resting on Day 1 at our first camp site.

On Saturday Mike Wood of Big Mouth Productions and I shot a gig for Sharklife, involving three South African celebrities lending their popularity weight to shark conservation. Mike’s video will flight on Top Billing, and my images will be used on a feature in the local People magazine, both aimed at challenging perceptions of shark’s as mindless killing machines. Its a cause that has been taken up vociferously by many, but one that still falls on deaf ears - it would appear that sharks just are not as cuddly as panda bears!

The plant-water interface fascinates me aesthetically - there is something radically surreal and Darwinian about submerged organic life that evokes the primal ooze from which all life purportedly sprang. These rib like structures are home to a myriad species of cichlids, who have invariable adapted to make this type of unique habitat there own. Shot off Thumbi Island, Lake Malawi.

While shooting an afternoon time lapse of village life next to Gecko Lounge, I noticed these local kids using a parked boat as a diving platform. This image in particular for me sums up the mood of Cape Maclear - languid, warm, relaxed - it demands blissful submission to nothingness.

Have just returned from a two week Earth-Touch shoot with Grant Brokensha in Lake Malawi, the purpose of which was to document the natural behaviour and amazing diversity of the cichlid fish species. Cichlids are a species of carp that have come to dominate Lake Malawi, with over 700 species endemic to the lake alone. They are a classic example of ‘Explosive Radiation”, a term coined by experts to describe their ability to evolve physically and behaviourally to take advantage of niche habitats in order to exploit a variety of food sources, typically in times when food was scarce. Grant and I experienced first hand the variety of these ncihe’s, from rocky boulders to grassy bottoms to forest like underwater landscapes, each providing a home for a different group of cichlids. To get a better sense of the expedition, and to see cichlid mouth brooding behavior, check out http://marine.earth-touch.com.

Came across this on YouTube, part of the BBC’s promotion of the series, some cool footage of the SUBImagery Team in action…

I captured this image of two bathers in the surf at Sodwana Bay a couple of weekends ago. What struck me was the sheer joy they were exuding, balancing as they were on the cusp of loosing control in the crashing surf.

While diving just north of Cathederal on Aliwal Shoal, we came across this shoal of fish balled tightly together in the current, holding position on the reef by hiding in the lee of this rock wall. Made up primarily of bronze bream, the shoal included rubber-lip and zebra fish. Had we been on scuba I doubt the shoal would have held position, and freediving repeatedly to 25m in a strong current would have been a stretch. I bought the Evolution CCR based on the assumption that it would allow me to get images that I would not oridnarily be able to achieve on SCUBA or freediving, and am determined to prove that assumption correct.

This weekend we dived hard on the rebreathers. On Saturday a two hour dive on the Produce, a wreck situated just north of the North East Pinnacle on Aliwal Shoal in around 30m’s of water, followed by a two hour twenty dive on Sunday on the outside edge of the Shoal, from Cathedral to just north of Raggie’s cave.

The visibility on both days was stellar, easily 20 meters. Again I was blown away by the stealth and versatility of my unit, an AP Evolution with Vision Electronics.

Next weekend we are planning a trip to Landers off Rocky Bay, a reef I last freedived more than ten years ago.

Have just got back from climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania, while on assignment for a friend of mine, Craig Milner. Craig was taking a group of seven Americans up the mountain for the first time, and wanted someone to document the climb photographically. My only council to those considering doing this climb is to stop considering and do it. make sure you go super slow all the way, take Diamox, and get the warmest gloves you can find, as well as face protection for the final ascent.

Have just spent the first day in Moremi with the Earth-Touch.com Botswana Crew, experimenting with ‘cross-media’ story telling. We are exploring new ways of engaging audiences using cellphones, email and websites, in conjunction with the traditional broadcast channels. Here is the the official desription of the project goals:

At Earth-Touch, we believe in the value of wildlife, and the imperative of reconnecting people with the natural environment and the myriad of creatures that share this fragile ecosystem with us. We also believe in the potential of new media technologies to create and nurture this bond, and to connect people around the world in a way never before possible.

Didier Noirot and I have just got back from a very intriguing trip to the Okavango Delta in Botswana, where we succeeded in diving with large Nile crocodiles and documenting these extraordinary living dinosaurs underwater. I am going to write up a full expedition report when I get the chance, but can report that initially it was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life - those iconic images of huge crocs lunging out the water and taking down huge animals are not easy to push to the back of one’s minds when you get into the water with your first big one. Below are some screen grabs from the video sequences we shot for potential ‘Behind The Scenes’ use - that’s Didier with his Sony 900 in the Subspace housing. To check out short video clips from these dives, click here…