Duncan Murrell is a 65 year old British conservation, nature and travel photographer, artist, writer and environmental educator whose work has revolved around sea kayaking in some of the world’s wildest places for many years. It all began in Southeast Alaska 35 years ago where he discovered kayaking as a non-intrusive means of getting close to humpback whales to photograph them, and it was a love affair that lasted for nearly two decades. His whale photos were published extensively worldwide and used by all of the big conservation organisations for their Save the Whale campaigns. His passion for photographing humpback whales culminated with him winning the mammal behaviour category in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition in 2002 with another photo being highly commended. Consequently he was commissioned to write about his experiences for the BBC Wildlife Magazine and a photo of him kayaking with the whales was featured on the cover. In 2010 the photos and story of “the Whaleman”, as he became known in the many schools where he taught for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, were featured in eight UK national newspapers. Other kayaking journeys followed on from Alaska, including the Gulf of California, Madagascar, where he was the first person to kayak up the exposed east coast, Palawan, New Caledonia and very recently Raja Ampat. He has adopted Palawan as the main base for his photography adventures in Asia and the Pacific, and has been photographing whale sharks and mobulids there for more than ten years. As a dedicated conservation photographer he has also been involved with elephant conservation in Sri Lanka, rainforest conservation in Palawan and most recently Kalimantan where he works with the Borneo Nature Foundation. See more of his work at his website: https://www.duncanmurrell.com/. You can also check out his blog here: http://www.whale-of-a-time-blog.com

Nirupam Nigam is the Editor-in-Chief of the Underwater Photography Guide and the President of Bluewater Photo - the world's top underwater photo & video retailer. While growing up in Los Angeles he fell in love with the ocean and pursued underwater photography in the local Channel Islands. After receiving degrees in Aquatic and Fisheries Science and General Biology, as well as a minor in Arctic Studies, Nirupam worked as a fisheries observer on vessels in the Bering Sea and North Pacific. Since then, Nirupam has been a full time underwater photographer and photo gear head. Check out more of his photography at www.photosfromthesea.com!