He is among the humans who have spent the longest time under water. Francis Perez A professional underwater photographer for over 20 years, he has made 5,129 dives in 11 seas and three oceans and taken 210,562 underwater photographs. But these figures fall short, he has a lot of work to do: “70% of the planet is water and as an underwater photographer it’s almost a responsibility to show it all,” he says. It refers to good and bad. The good thing is that nature of spectacular beauty has been discovered by those of us on dry land thanks to his work, the bad thing is the impact of human activity on marine ecosystems.
He identifies himself as a conservationist because wherever he goes and what he does automatically makes him a protector of nature. He began his activity as a form of entertainment, “like a sport”, but he became mired in responsibility for his photographs. Francis Pérez says, “Photography has become a conservation tool and a decision-making tool and a fundamental observational tool. Over time, being a conservationist means getting into the water with a camera.”
best nature photo of 2017
A turtle trapped in fishing nets and plastic has made this Tenerife man the winner of the 2017 World Press Photo in the nature photos category. In this video shot by Francis Perez, you can see how the meeting between the photographer and the turtle, which could be released, went.
The reality of the oceans has led them towards protectionism. ,I don’t go out looking for ecological disaster. If it happens I go, if someone spills I go or they call me. Jumping in the water and taking out something beautiful like a whale is already conservation because you are documenting the monumental heritage we have.
It is actually the whales that monopolize most of their activities. “As I have evolved from shooting still lifes with macro to wide angle photography in recent years, I have raised my head a bit to photograph underwater landscapes. And then I’ve moved further away from the coast and I’ve devoted a lot of myself to cheetahs because of their fragility and the threats they constantly face. I like them better, they are marine mammals and they are wonderful animals.
It has an addiction to pilot whales. located in the sea Abma Patti It hosts the largest population of this species in all of Europe. “Some move in groups of ten or twelve individuals and have a matriarchal social structure: grandmothers and mothers have a major role in the group.” In April 2019, he witnessed the death of an eight-month-old pilot whale.
70% of the planet is water and as an underwater photographer it is almost a responsibility to show it all
Francis Perez
“I saw that the tail was broken and was hanging down. It had no chance of propulsion. I was practically immobile. I took pictures and videos and sent them by boat to the Cabeldo Wildlife Recovery Center, La Tahonilla. was one of the few cases in which a marine animal was killed in the open ocean. “We were about nine people in three boats. Many of us cried at the end. While I was taking pictures, So the animal’s family circled around me,” Pérez recalled in a conversation last October at Gua de Isora’s Terrazas de Abama suite. He died from impact with the propeller of a medium-length boat.
In it Cetacean Corridor, declared a protected marine area, Still victims of resentment. “It is a passageway for many species throughout the year, but it is highly exposed to tourism development, has many threats and among them the pressure of maritime traffic has led them to a problematic situation,” he assures gave IndependentI.
He is working on a documentary about the different types of collisions with whales in the world involving different types of marine traffic, such as in Chile – mining ships in the north affect blue and humpback whales – or places such as Sri Lanka. in Panama, New Zealand, Brazil and the Canary Islands.
People go out to sea with their boat and don’t know what protocol to follow when whale watching
Francis Perez
a hidden drama
“We see that there are many more collisions than that because most of the carcasses do not reach the shores and scientists cannot document them, but it has been observed that the population is declining. The Canary Islands, in particular, have a population of sperm whales. There is a temporary population and the population is falling”, he insisted.
He denounced that there are technical solutions, that “we know what to do, but we don’t do it”. Solutions such as real-time sighting applications, route changes, traffic control and thermal cameras on ships that do not start.
You notice it from the time I started till now. The water is not so cold in winter and warm in summer
“People go out to sea with their boats and don’t know what protocol they have to follow when they see pilot whales. When you enter the national park on land they tell you the rules, you don’t open fire Can’t feed animals, etc. Here we have a small boat leaving a pier in the sea without notice and very few people know what the current rules are for approaching cetaceans”, photographer Is said.
He cannot answer about climate change, because he is not an expert, his vital thermometer serves as a measure. “The warming of the water is obvious, it’s much warmer than other years. I notice there’s more microalgae because it’s warmer. You notice it now since I started. Water It is not so cold in winter and warm in summer”, he assures.
