CALIFORNIA · UNDERWATER · 22°CEST. 2022 — HENRY COOPER

Beneath the surface,the work begins.

SELECTED WORK

Kelp forests, blue water, surf zone, tide pools. All California.

WHY

90% of California's kelp is gone. I shoot what's left.

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SHOOTS WITH · SPONSORED BY · ON ASSIGNMENT FOR
— hover to pause
— FEATURED · 04 / 12

She circled twice, then disappeared.

A blue shark, late August, the Catalina Channel. Sixty feet down, no chum, just patience. She made two passes, looked us in the lens, and dropped into the dark.

f/5.6 · 1/250 · ISO 400 · Sony A7 IV · Nauticam housing

FIELD RECORD · BLUE SHARK · LA JOLLA01 / 03
BEAT — ARRIVAL

Sixty feet.
No chum.

She came in slow from the blue. Nobody moved. The whole boat could hear me holding my breath.

BEAT — CONTACT

Two passes.
Eye contact.

She circled twice and looked us in the lens both times. Most pelagic moments are luck. This one felt deliberate.

BEAT — EXIT

Then dark.
Gone.

Eight minutes, end to end. She dropped into the deep without a tail flick. We stayed an hour longer. Nothing.

01
02
03
BLUE SHARK · LA JOLLA01 / 12
KELP FOREST · MONTEREY02 / 12
— LATEST FRAMES

Field, this season.

FRAME 01 / 14
BLUE SHARK · LA JOLLA01
HARBOR SEAL · LIGHT RAYS02
KELP BASS · SURFACE03
SEA LION · MOTHER & PUP04
SPIDER CRAB · LINE05
BAITBALL · KELP EDGE06
FREEDIVER · WITH JACKS07
SEA LION · CURIOUS08
HORN SHARK · CHANNEL IS.09
SELF · KELP CATHEDRAL10
HARBOR SEAL · ON THE FIN11
MORAY · URCHIN BARREN12
SAFETY · 12 METERS13
MAKO · OFFSHORE14
SCROLL TO TRAVEL
AUGUST 2025
— FIELD JOURNAL · WEEK 34

What I saw this week.

11 frames4 DIVES · 38° N
0R4A & CR7 · 14–28MM
HARBOR SEAL · GOD RAYS01
SEA LIONS · SURFACE02
SPIDER CRAB · DRIFT03
JACKS · KELP EDGE04
SEA LION · EYE05
SAFETY · 12 M06
HARBOR SEAL · GRASS07
SEA LION · COLUMN08
SELF · KELP FOREST09
SEAL · ON THE FIN10
FREEDIVER · WITH JACKS11
↳ ALL 64 FRAMES IN THE PORTFOLIOOPEN PORTFOLIO →

0% of California's kelp is gone.

— THE WORK

I shoot what's left. A portion of every print funds replanting plots off the Palos Verdes shelf — small forests, started one urchin barren at a time.

SEA FORESTERWATERMEN'S ALLIANCESAVE OUR SHORES
— THE SHOP

Take one home. signed.