MDP Image Wins GRAND PRIZE

Seaweb/Marine Photobank's "Ocean in Focus 2009"

Seaweb and Marine Photo Bank's recently chose an MDP image as the Grand Prize winner of their "Oceans in Focus" conservation photography contest. The winning image depicted a lone mangrove shoot in the path of an impending backhoe. The shot was taken in Bimini, Bahamas in June of 2009. The grand prize is a week stay at Matava Resort in Fiji. The winning image can be seen below...MDP was interviewed about his winning entry and his photograpy by Seaweb - MDP "Ocean Voices" Interview on Seaweb

MDP joined a team from th BBFS for their annual lemon shark census in the Marquesas Keys, Florida. The team assembled in Key West and boarded the R/V Dante Fassell. The ship went west to the Marquesas Keys lagoon where the team fished for lemon sharks and bonnetheads. See the BBFS Marquesas 2009 Gallery.

MDP headed back to Bimini, Bahamas and the Bimini Biological Field Station-Sharklab to pasrticipate in their annual juvenile lemon shark census. This project is called PIT, after the tags implanted in the sharks. PIT 2009 was very successful thanks to an enthusiastic team of staff and volunteers. PIT 2009 - BBFS Lemon Shark Census

See the BBFS PIT 2009 Gallery.

MDP Image Wins GRAND PRIZE

Nature's Best Photography "Ocean Views 2009"

Nature's Best Photography has recently chosen an image taken by MDP as the Grand Prize winner out of approximately 10,000 entries recieved. The image was of a whale shark surrounded by sardines, taken at Mafia Island, Tanzania. MDP will have the image printed in an upcoming issue of Nature's Best Photography Magazine and participate in an expedition courtesy of Lindblad Expeditions - most likely to the Galapagos Islands. The winning image can be seen below...

MDP headed back to Mafia Island, Tanzania in January 2009 to resume his research on the aggregation of whale sharks found in the waters near Mafia. This is the first update from this trip, and includes a report of tagging activities to date as well as some pictures of both whale sharks and diving in the area. See the February 2009 BLOG.

In November MDP journeyed back to BBFS to aid an expedition for a film crew from the BBC. The crew was shooting an episode for the series "The Deadly 60". The filming included taping footage of lemon, tiger, and great hammerhead sharks in Bimini and at the Tiger Beach site. After a few days at the Sharklab, the crews boarded the M/V Indigo and headed up to Tiger Beach. The trip proved to be highly successful with many sharks and some great footage captured.

See the BBC Deadly 60 Expedition Gallery.

MDP was recently on assignment for NBC Television to do the production still photography for their upcoming new reality TV show produced by Original Pictures titled "SHARK U". The TV show follows shark biologists from the Bimini Biological Field Station - Sharklab led by Dr. Samuel "Shark Doc" Gruber, as they complete various shark biology projects and teach new lab volunteers the "ins an outs" of shark research. The show should be aired during the summer of 2009. See the SHARK U Gallery.

MDP spends most of the month of June at the Bimini Biological Field Station - Sharklab to document their annual PIT lemon shark census. Included in the work for BBFS is a trip to Tiger Beach, north of West End, Bahamas, to search for adult lemon sharks. Coverage of both the juvenile lemon shark census and the Tiger Beach expedition can be seen on the BBFS-Sharklab official website and can be seen by following the link - PIT 2008 - BBFS Lemon Shark Census

MDP Photography officially launches its website.

Galleries, Bio, and MDP's Blog are available