Discovering the Ocean of childhood dreams

A Tale of Two Atolls from Save Our Seas Foundation

Save Our Seas Foundation's director of conservation and National Geographic Magazine photographer, Thomas P. Peschak, has always been fascinated by the ocean.

He has spent much of his career as a scientist and and photojournalist searching for a pristine marine wilderness.

He discovered his "holy grail" of marine environments in a remote section of the Mozambique Channel when he joined a Save Our Seas Foundation Expedition to Bassas Da India and Europa attols.

In this video he shares his experiences of some of the last perfect underwater ecosystems on the planet.

To compliment the National Geographic "A Tale of Two Attols" story in their April 2014 issue, the Save Our Seas Foundation is dedicating the month of April to an exploration of this pristine marine environment, showcasing this incredible habitat and looking at broader issues surrounding conservation in the Western Indian Ocean.
Follow the Journey to the Western Indian Ocean at: sosf.me/1kD1usT

Thomas Peschak documented the remote atolls of Bassas da India and Europa, which are among of the last vestiges of pristine seascape in the Indian Ocean, for the April issue of National Geographic magazine.

Together with cameraman Dan Beecham and writer Sunnye Collins, he created a behind the scenes video highlighting the process of photographing in this rare ecosystem.

As a kid, I used to dream about the ocean.

It was a wild place full of color and life.

I pictured dense shivers of sharks ruling over the food chain and herds of turtles paddling through reefs and seagrass.

As a marine biologist turned photographer, I have spent most of my career looking for the places I used to dream about when I was little.

I invite you all to travel back in time, to a place where my quest to experience my childhood dreams of a healthy and vibrant ocean became reality 30 years later.

I hope you let the ocean’s wonders nourish your heart and soul.

But above all, be inspired to engage and to do everything in your power to ensure that more seascapes recover and once again resemble the marine realm of Bassas da India and Europa.