With a professional career spanning 17 years, award-winning underwater photographer (and marine biologist) Alex Mustard’s pictures have graced the covers of numerous magazines, books, been displayed at exhibitions and used in conservation campaigns. His images are not only beautiful, but they also have fascinating stories to tell, often revealing some very surprising behaviour.
An Opportunity to Work with Us
Alex’s knowledge of the UK’s coastal waters has inspired his latest book idea WILD British Seas. Together, we developed the concept using Alex’s words and images, combined with those of other photographers, to celebrate and reveal the beauty of Britain’s waters, both above and below the surface – click here to see it.
*We are currently seeking a publisher and/or sponsorship partners to bring this amazing concept to a publication. Contact us for more information.*
To showcase the project, Alex took over Naturepl’s social media channels from the 15th to 21st February. If you missed it on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, don’t worry – you’ll find all of Alex’s picture choices and posts in the gallery at the end of this page.
Despite being a relatively small island, Britain’s jagged coastline is extensive, stretching almost 20,000 miles from the Scilly Isles to Shetland. And it is anything but uniform: cliffs, fjords, estuaries, rias, lagoons, sounds, bays, salt marshes, and sand and pebble beaches combine to create a hotchpotch of habitats. With 8,365 species (and counting), including Britain’s largest mammals, the world’s second largest fish, 50% of the world’s grey seals, 80% of the world’s northern gannets, internationally important overwintering populations of 15 species of wading birds and so much more, the sea is home to Britain’s most spectacular wild wonders.
In England alone, we make 271 million recreational visits to the coast EACH YEAR. WILD British Seas aims to not only serve as a beautiful reminder of those breath-taking coasts and seascapes, but also to shed light on the creatures that inhabit them, whether permanently or as seasonal guests.
“I love British Seas,” says Alex. “This book shares my passion, experience and knowledge. Most books on the nature of our seas are written for specialists like me, primarily to help me identify what I see. With Wild British Seas I wanted to produce a book for everyone, current and future ocean lovers! The book is an introduction and celebration of our seas. The star attraction is stunning photography from the very best photographers capturing the nature around our coasts – including landscapes, seascapes, great flocks of birds, marine mammals and underwater life, backed up with informative, easy-reading chapters and extended captions. It is a book to enhance any visit to see, or an chance to relive those days away from the comfort of home.”
Our well-developed concept will give you an idea of how we see the book being structured and a taste of the incredible photography that it will offer its readers. Alex regularly writes articles for specialist magazines, but he is keen to share his knowledge and passion with a much wider audience.
We would love to find a publisher who can bring this book to the British public. Contact us if that’s something you would be interested in doing.
About Alex Mustard: Scientist, Photographer and MBE
Alex Mustard’s passion for underwater photography started at the age of 9. He earned both his undergraduate degree and doctorate in Marine Biology, and worked for four years as a post-doc researcher before making underwater photography his career.
His passion for educating and enlightening the public about the marine world is apparent in his photography and writing. He frames his subjects in interesting ways, inviting people to look more closely to discover something about often overlooked species.
It is this combination of his artistic eye, his scientific background and his innovative techniques that have caught the attention of many judges of some of the world’s most prestigious photography competitions. He is the only underwater winner of the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year (2013) and has a long track record in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year, his winning pictures featuring in 14 different collection books. He has won the Coast and Marine Category of the British Wildlife Photography Awards 4 times. In 2018, Alex received an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours for his photography.
He has produced many books including The Art of Diving (2006), Reef Revealed (2007) winner of the World Grand Prize for best book of underwater photographs, Secrets of the Seas (2016) and Diving The Thistlegorm (2020). His book Underwater Photography Masterclass remains the most recommended and the world’s most popular instructional book on the genre.
See more of our favourite images by Alex in our gallery.
Missed Alex’s posts? Don’t worry, you can see them here in all their glory:
*Click on the images to read the full caption*
“The story I want to tell about British Seas is more than fish, or birds, or beaches. Nobody in the UK lives more than 70 miles from the coast and this is a book to help everyone get on better terms with our wild and wet neighbours. With 8365 species (and counting), including Britain’s largest mammals, the world’s second largest fish (the basking shark pictured here near Penzance), 80% of the world’s northern gannets, and so much more, the sea is home to Britain’s most spectacular wild wonders. The stunning landscapes and nature of our coasts plays out above and below the surface, and in the skies, so rather than rely solely on my photographs I am delighted to be working with NPL, who represent many of my favourite photographers, allowing the book to showcase our Seas with photographs that are the best in their genres. I’ll be sharing a few of my favourites over the coming days.” by Alex Mustard
“In the UK, 22 million of us live within 5 miles of the sea. And in England alone (in a normal year!) we make over 270 million recreational visits to the coast. Yet despite being proud islanders and a nation of nature lovers, most of us are far more familiar with our garden birds than with the huge diversity of wildlife that can be encountered at the seaside. The instantly recognisable puffin bucks that trend; this intimate pair was photographed by Danny Green. But sea birds are very different to the feather friends that flock our bird tables. A robin rarely lives more than two years, a blackbird just three, but puffins regularly reach twenty. Puffins can drink seawater and are far more at home on or beneath the surface, capable of diving to 60m.” by Danny Green
“Over seven million Britons enjoy full contact with our seas each year, including about 800,000 kayakers, 624,000 sailors, 518,000 surfers and millions of swimmers. Seaside visits contribute £17 billion to our economy, including sharing fish and chips with friends, photograph by Sam Hobson. Maritime activities contribute £46 billion annually to the economy and employ 500,0000. Our seas provide all these important services, but can do so much better when they are healthy and functioning properly. And sadly, our marine environment was far more prolific in the past. Our seas define our country’s geography and our island status has determined many aspects of British history, society and even politics. Isn’t it time we demanded greater protection for our precious seas?" by Sam Hobson/naturepl.com
“Despite being a relatively small island, our jagged coastline is extensive, stretching almost 20,000 miles from the Scilly Isles to Shetland. And it is anything but uniform: cliffs, fjords, estuaries, rias, lagoons, salt marshes, and sand and pebble beaches combine to create a hotchpotch of habitats. Some areas face directly into the Atlantic and are lashed by the full force of ocean storms, while sea lochs, mudflats, coves and natural harbours are tucked away and tranquil. It is this variety that allows wildlife to proliferate because whatever preferences a species has, it will find perfect conditions somewhere to thrive. Here a group of curlews fight through a winter storm in Wales, photographed by Ben Hall. by Ben Hall
“Although the sea is all connected, I’ve used Seas in the title, because our waters vary so much around our coasts. Some regions are subjected to world-class tides and fierce, but life bringing currents. Weston-super-Mare, for example, has an eleven metre tidal range, while 50 miles away on the south coast of Dorset, the sea rises and falls a maximum of just two metres. The sea doesn’t just go up and down, vast volumes sweep in and out with tides. Moving water creates advantages and problems. Large tides expose extensive beaches and mudflats and rich feeding for wading birds, revealing ripples like these captured in the Outer Hebrides by Theo Bosboom. Motion in the ocean brings food and nutrients for smaller species to thrive and prevents them being buried in drifts of silt, but it can also tear animals and plants right from their homes.” by Theo Bosboom
“It is a mistake to imagine that our sea is heterogeneous, blended to uniformity by the motion of waves and flow of currents. In truth, our sea and the life it supports is highly variable both locally and regionally. Britain sits at a crossroads in the ocean, on the boundary between the deep Atlantic Ocean and rich, shallow shelf seas. Our waters are also the meeting point of three distinct biogeographic provinces: chunks of the ocean each with their own set of species. Some of our marine species are ubiquitous, while the distribution of others has a distinctly regional accent. These mighty cuttlefish are resolutely southern, favouring warm, sheltered coves to reproduce. I photographed these two large males (50cm) fighting over a female off a Torquay beach, in Devon. The large cuttlebones that wash up in winter are the only evidence most know of these dramas.” by Alex Mustard
“Flapping wings fill the sky, noise fills the air, and smell fills our nostrils. A visit to a breeding colony of sea birds in the peak early summer season is at once a visceral assault on the senses and an uplifting experience of nature thrumming at full bore. Seabird colonies are much like avian cities, crowded, dirty, smelly and with plenty of bad behaviour, like aggression and theft. Fortunately, for us spectators most are in wild places, where the dramatic scenery makes a perfect stage for the natural history drama. Andy Rouse captured this moment off the Yorkshire coast, of gannets preparing to dive. These robust birds can reach 85km/h when diving for food.” by Andy Rouse
“Blue sharks are an oceanic species, which rather like some seabirds, are summer visitors to our seas. I photographed this girl in Cornwall, she had probably wintered off the Caribbean! It’s not all sunshine and blue seas for these sharks, though. They have the unhappy tag of being the most fished shark in the world. Our seas are important food source for the country, 97% of UK households consume fish. But too often we fish too much and few of our key fish populations are in a healthy state. Of the top 10, only three – mackerel in the Atlantic, haddock in North Sea and langoustines off west Scotland are not overfished. Better protection is needed for fish and fisheries to flourish. In 2019, vessels spent 200,000 hours bottom trawling or dredging in UK’s current ‘protected areas’. What our seas clearly need are highly protected zones that fully protected important parts of the sea.” by Alex Mustard
“While some species are typical of the south, the great skua always transports my mind north, where they are also known as 'bonxies'. These birds are specialists in stealing food from other seabirds, scavenging from fisheries and seizing chicks. Scotland is home to 60% of the world population and Shetland is the real stronghold for these brutes, which is where Andy Parkinson captured this image of their highly aggressive and potentially dangerous defence of their breeding territories. A primeval reminder that more species than humans lay claim to our seas.” by Andrew Parkinson
“People are often surprised we have wild seahorses in Britain, in fact we have two species, but they are rarely spotted. Short snouted seahorses, like this one, favour shallow, sheltered waters, and have even been found in the Thames, 5 miles from central London! Seahorses are fish, but aren’t strong swimmers, preferring to cling to seagrass or seaweed by curling their prehensile tails. Not only do seahorses give birth to full formed babies, it is the male that does so. Female seahorses lay unfertilised eggs into the male’s pouch, where he fertilises them, providing them with both nourishment and a perfect environment to grow. I’ve not seen a seahorse in British Seas for 10 years, but I always feel better about our seas knowing they are out there.” Photographed under licence to Dr Alexander Mustard from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO-0004/SciCon). by Alex Mustard
“Nose to tail on the M5, A77, A38, A55, A303, A15 and more is an unloved tradition of the British holiday migration to the coast. But when autumn comes and buckets and spades are packed away, another crowd moves in, as our beaches turn into buffets for wading birds. Anyone who has dipped a toe in the British Sea on a scorching summer day will be reminded that sea water heats up much more slowly that air. It also cools down more slowly. And in winter the coast is by far the warmest place to be. Britain’s position at the boundary of the continent and the ocean makes our shores the prime destination for northern wading birds looking for a mild winter. While our large tides uncover masses of mudflats and beaches, filled to the gunnels with marine invertebrates. Laurie Campbell photographed this aftermath of the stampede in the Firth of Forth, Scotland.” by Laurie Campbell
“At home, on one of the UK’s suburban streets it is easy to think that marine mammals are something people travel overseas to experience. In truth, British Seas offer fantastic opportunities to see wide range of species. Thirty-five species of whales and dolphins have been recorded here: a third of the world’s total, and 15 can be seen regularly. Furthermore, our waters are a real stronghold for seals. The UK is home to 35% of Europe’s common seals, and almost 50% of world population of grey seals. Common seals are also called harbour seals, yet grey seals are both more regularly seen and more likely to hang out in harbours! This image, by Danny Green shows a young common seal on a windy beach, on the East coast in Lincolnshire.” by Danny Green
“As a terrestrial species we are used to invertebrates being drab and secretive, like the worms in our garden soil or the snails that materialise each night to ravage the vegetable patch. Invertebrates proliferate in the ocean and come in far more shapes, sizes and gaudy colours. This shouldn’t surprise, since underwater animals have had a billion-year head start on evolution, compared with life on land. This jewel-like snakelocks shrimp is thought to be a new arrival to mainland Britain, never seen before 2007, but now widely established on the south coast. The northward march of its population made possible by warming seas. British water temperatures rose, on average, by 0.7˚C between 1979 and 2009.” by Alex Mustard
“British Seas are some of the hardest working in the world. As well as supporting world class wildlife, our seas provide us with food, renewable energy, medicine, minerals and oil they also protect our coasts, regulate our climate, are a conduit for transport and a valued destination of fun. Whether ferocious or tranquil, the sea is a great purifier when we visit. 2020 DEFRA study shows that Brits partaking in a regular spot of vitamin sea reported increased happiness and better general health. I am assuming it is skill of Guy Edwardes' framing that makes the spectators in this photo look so precarious. As an island nation, we all rightly feel some sort of ownership over our coast, and with public interest in the seas at an all-time high and political change in the wind, now is the time for widespread campaigning for greater protection for our seas.” by Guy Edwardes
