Brian Skerry

Brian Skerry is a photojournalist based in Massachusetts. Specializing in elusive underwater subject matter, Skerry has worked in diverse environments including the open ocean, beneath ice and inside caves. With a focus on large marine animals, he has traveled the world in pursuit of natural history subjects. He has dived alongside Killer Whales in the frigid waters of the Norwegian Arctic, confronted Great White Sharks in both northern & southern hemispheres and been chased by Sperm Whales in the Azores. His photographs of a three-meter long Oarfish, the legendary sea serpent, were the first ever made underwater of this rarely seen animal.

Another area of focus for Brian has been marine archaeology and shipwrecks, having logged thousands decompression dives in over twenty years of wreck exploration. Among the wrecks he has documented are the Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria, the pirate ship Whydah, eight German U-Boats, Spanish Galleons off of Cuba, D-Day wrecks off of Normandy, France and the American Civil War ironclad USS Monitor.

Unique within the field of underwater photography is Skerry's ability to pursue subjects of great diversity. Using only a mask, snorkel and fins he has free-dived to capture images of whales and fast moving pelagic animals such as bluefin tuna, dorado and marlin. With SCUBA he has photographed subjects ranging from over a dozen species of sharks to tiny invertebrates worldwide. Wearing up to six scuba tanks and breathing mixtures of helium gases, Brian has explored and documented fleets of deep-water sunken ships.

In addition to his work as an assignment photographer for National Geographic Magazine Brian's images have also been featured in magazines such as People, Sports Illustrated, US News and World Report, Smithsonian, Esquire, Audubon, Wildlife Conservation, Yankee, Men's Journal and in 17 countries worldwide. His images are also regularly seen in a variety of books and calendars. Brian's numerous articles and photos have appeared in every major diving publication in the U.S. and have been published internationally as well. Brian has also worked on film projects for National Geographic, Discovery Channel and NOVA (PBS).

His first book, Complete Wreck Diving, co-written with Henry Keatts, was released in 1995. His latest book, A Whale On Her Own - The True Story Of Wilma The Beluga Whale was published in 2000 by Blackbirch Press. His newest book, Successful Underwater Photography with Howard Hall will be released in the Fall of 2002 by AMPHOTO BOOKS a division of Watson-Guptill Publishers.

Brian also produces a monthly on-line feature called "SEAVIEWS" for the Humane Society of the United States' website AnimalChannel.net.