Timeliness

National Geographic photographer Thomas P. Peschak has spent a life time documenting the beauty and fragility of ocean life and the majesty of wild coastlines. Wild Seas is his photographic collection of the mystical, wet wonders of the sea. He has also captured images of the ocean’s counterpoint – damage inflicted by humans.

PHOTOGRAPHER’S BIO

Thomas trained as a marine biologist and embraced photography after realising that his images could have a greater conservation impact than his research. As the director of storytelling for the Save Our Seas Foundation and a National Geographic Society Fellow, he merges science with photojournalism to tackle critical conservation issues. His TED talk, Dive Into an Ocean Photographer’s World, has been viewed more than one million times.

Gregarious grey whales traverse the waters of the Mexican state of Baja California on the Baja California Peninsula, manta rays perform acrobatics in the Maldives and penguins parade in Antarctica. The scenes in Thomas’s book of photography chart his transformation from marine biologist to full-time conservation advocate, equipped with just a mask, fins, and a camera.

Thomas photographs sharks in a feeding frenzy, tracks sea turtles the size of bears, and dodges marine poachers, to reveal the splendour of pristine seas as well as the dark side of pollution, overfishing, and climate change. Filled with images from southern Africa, the Galápagos, the Seychelles, and more, this illuminating book offers an impassioned case for revering, and preserving the planet’s heritage, our oceans.

Wild Seas is available for purchase from all good bookstores and online at www.hphpublishing.co.za