Henley Spiers Photography

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Henley Spiers Photography

Underwater Photographer | Writer | Expedition Leader

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14/08/2026

It is immensely satisfying to learn that this picture, one of my favourite moments of 2026, has been awarded in the Ocean Photographer of the Year.

It captures the peak of the action during an unforgettable encounter with a bottlenose dolphin as it bites down on a small fish. The eyes of both predator and prey perfectly meet the gaze of the camera lens. The scene feels almost prehistoric, with the dolphin’s pose and features reminiscent of an ancient ichthyosaur.

These clever dolphins have learnt to use the bagan fishing vessels in this remote region of Indonesia to their advantage. Bagan fishing is carried out at night using lights and nets hung down from a floating platform. Dolphins have learned they can get an easy meal by visiting these nets and prying fish from them. The fishermen who man these platforms can be at sea for weeks or sometimes even months at a time. If anything, they seemed happy to have the company of the dolphins as their shift ended and the sun lifted over the horizon.

To swim with these dolphins was a life affirming experience and they seemed to enjoy my presence in the water. At several points they surrounded me, adopting upright positions in the water. They appeared to look upon me with as much curiosity as I gazed back at them. At one stage, I put aside the camera and tried vigorously nodding my head up and down to see how they would react. To my astonishment, a dolphin looked me square in the eye and repeated the gesture back to me.

11/08/2026

Meet the locals at Kanuhura island in Lhaviyani Atoll...

Watching baby sharks swim around your feet as the stars shines overhead.

Swimming out to the house reef in search of a friendly octopus.

An adrenaline-pumping scuba dive surrounded by eagle rays and sharks.

Finding the discreet yet wonderful marine invertebrate weirdos: ribbon eels, porcelain crabs and bumblebee shrimp.

What’s on your Six Senses Kanuhura wildlife wish list?

06/08/2026

Take a break with this Atlantic puffin, one of Britain’s most extraordinary (if diminutive) birds.

Puffins mate for life and reunite every year with their partner on the sea cliffs during breeding season. However, visiting them at this time can still be hit or miss, as they must venture out on fishing trips to feed their hatchlings. Sometimes the cliffs feel empty, but on this day, we found puffins all along the ridge. When resting, they adopt this cosy pose, huddling their signature beak under their plumage. The beak is specially adapted to act as a form of thermal regulator, allowing them to cool off when in flight and exerting tremendous energy. When resting on the wind blasted coastline, keeping their beak tucked in is a clever way to retain body heat.

05/08/2026

My first pursuit as Oceanographic Magazine‘s Storyteller in Residence was a feature on marine protection in Scotland. It focused on three very different approaches to inshore marine conservation: the voluntary marine reserve in Berwickshire, the Marine Protected Area around Arran, and the self-regulated exclusion zone established by Shetland’s shellfish fishermen.

These models were not only fundamentally different in their approach but often appeared to be in competition with one another. As I travelled between each location, the issue of marine protection was being fiercely debated in the Scottish Parliament, provoking deeply entrenched opinions on all sides.

The more time I spent with the people at the heart of each initiative, the clearer it became that marine protection is far from a binary concept when human communities are involved. There were no simple answers. What initially seemed like a question of right and wrong gradually dissolved into layers of competing values, local knowledge, livelihoods, and ecological priorities. Rather than becoming clearer, the subject grew increasingly complex the more closely I examined it.

The only conclusion I could make with complete certainty was that beneath the surface lay something truly extraordinary—something unquestionably worth protecting.

29/07/2026

My philosophy is that there are 3 categories of black and white photographs.

In the first category, you have the pictures which give the genre a bad name: the misguided rescue jobs. These are mediocre images rendered with a monochrome edit as a last ditch effort to give them some sort of artistic merit. We will all fall into this trap at times, but please try to avoid it!

In the second category, you have strong pictures which work both in colour and in black and white. Personally, for every picture I like, I will at least consider what it would look like in monochrome. This is an entirely legitimate use of the dark arts and a great way of training your eye and edits.

Lastly, and most importantly, you have the photographs born for black and white. These frames are elevated to a higher dimension through a carefully considered monochrome conversion. These are rare but should be the goal for anyone who wishes to build a b&w portfolio.

24/07/2026

A dead shortfin mako shark hangs from a fishing line underwater. Only recently deceased, its eye still appears to be looking back at us. The value of this dead shark is approximately $100 USD for the fishermen who caught it, an astonishingly low price for an endangered species (IUCN Red List). One cannot help but wonder what this extraordinarily rich area of the ocean would look like with less fishing pressure on sharks.

And yet, if you live in one of these small coastal communities, employment opportunities are seriously limited. It would be totally unreasonable to blame the artisanal fishermen for killing sharks.

The tragedy lies in the disconnection between this destructive and relatively low-earning use of the sharks and what might be attained in a different model. I would happily have paid over $100 USD to see this shark alive that day. And I know of many more who would feel the same way. Even if you have zero passion for sharks, their economic value via a tourist model could be far greater. The question becomes: how can we ensure the artisanal fishermen directly benefit from any such endeavour, thus maintaining their motivation to fish fewer sharks.

The demise of sharks cannot be laid at the doorstep of certain nations. Shark fisheries are a global problem, with significant industrial shark fishing from North American and European fleets amongst those most heavily responsible for their trade.

03/07/2026

Back to the gannets. Back to Shetland. Time once again to dive in the beautiful, frigid waters of this isolated archipelago. Time to hear the thunderous crashes of these spectacular seabirds as they dive underwater, leaving a trail of bubbles behind.

As photographers, it’s easy to stay within the comfort of techniques we know will work. We convince ourselves that the time for experimentation will come later. But underwater, the clock ticks fast, and “later” often never arrives.

On my first ever dive with the gannets, within 10 minutes I was in experimental mode, pushing the limits of what my camera could capture. The resulting photos went on to set a new benchmark in terms of what could be achieved with these birds underwater, propelling my career forward as a result. Most of the time, getting creatively curious will lead to failures...but if you keep persevering, it might just lead to something truly special.

30/06/2026

For a good time underwater, few can match the company of grey seals. Charismatic, curious and often playful, they can offer that rare wildlife encounter where the animal actually positively engages with our human presence in its environment.

The UK is home to around 40% of the global population of this species so how we co-exist with them is especially significant. It’s been a tumultuous history with seals pursued for their meat, oil and fur. As the human footprint on these islands expanded we have also come into greater conflict in terms of beach territory and fish stocks.

Since the 1970, and the Conservation of Seals Act, things have mostly taken a turn for the better with a population recovery for the species. On the Farne islands, where some of these pictures were taken, only around 500 seal pups were recorded from 1950. By 2018, this had jumped to 2,737. In 2024, there were 3,624 grey seal pups born!

24/06/2026

Manta ray magic at sunset in South Ari atoll.

It seems like the longer I pursue this career in underwater photography, the longer I spend searching for those brief moments of natural wonder. It has become normal to spend weeks in pursuit of a fleeting instant. I do not begrudge the wait, the failures or the enterprise needed to access these moments.

A few hours spent with these manta rays at sunset. A split second in time where they swam straight at me in perfect formation. A frame that carries me right back to that moment, the feeling only slightly dulled by the passage of time. A picture and an experience that soothes my soul. A natural high that cannot be replicated in any other way...

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http://www.henleyspiers.com/

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