Conservationist Uses Beautiful Photography to Help Save the Oceans

The ocean holds a special place in the hearts of many throughout history, from sailors to wildlife enthusiasts, but few young up-and-coming contemporaries are as entwined in understanding and documenting marine life as conservationist and photographer Rachel Moore.

To say that Rachel Moore is passionate about ocean conservation would be an understatement. She has dedicated her life and career to the seas, sailing around the world full-time aboard the Agápē Nui since 2016, she has been recognized by both brands and organizations including Sony, GoPro, PADI, and Only One as a professional diver trained in marine biology who uses her experience of life at sea to shine a light on marine conservation.

However, Moore comes from humble beginnings, it was her obsession with ocean documentaries as a child that blossomed into a dedication that few so young see through.

“Growing up, I wasn’t allowed to watch much television — only educational programming like Discovery Channel and Nat Geo. I became obsessed with ocean documentaries. By the age of seven, I knew I wanted to become a diver. At 15, I got my first job hostessing at a restaurant so I could save up for my PADI Open Water certification. That was the real beginning,” Moore tells PetaPixel.

“I started my photography journey during my early diving years. I was hired by Channel Islands National Park as the youngest Blue Card diver they’d ever certified. I worked four seasons on their Kelp Forest Monitoring and Live Dive programs, and during that time, I began taking my own little point-and-shoot camera into the water during our dives. I was drawn to macro photography at first since visibility was usually quite poor, I became captivated by the small details of marine life.”

It was that dedication and initial inspiration with underwater macro photography that led to Moore discovering her own photographic style, now highly sought after by brands and organizations alike for its immersive yet stylistic aesthetics, documentary-inspired to look true to life while treated, with a light hand, just right to enhance the colors and depth.

This delicate balance, Moore describes, allows her to bring out the emotion and beauty of the scene while still being authentic to the experience that she felt while capturing it, sharing that special moment with the viewer.

To underwater enthusiasts early in their career inspired by Moore’s photography, her advice is that gear is not as important as understanding how to use it and to apply yourself using whatever equipment you have available, that even action cameras can create compelling imagery, just being out there, creating and learning, as often as you can is what is most important.

“Early on, the specific camera doesn’t matter as much as understanding how to use what you have — mastering exposure, knowing your settings. Once that knowledge is in place, upgrading to a more advanced setup really pays off,” Moore explained.

“The best camera is the one you have with you. I’ve captured some of my favorite moments on small action cameras. That said, for professional work, I now use a Sony a1. It’s phenomenal in low light and has amazing animal eye tracking. I’ve never had issues with it overheating underwater, even during long shoots.”

As many photographers can likely relate, Moore shared that she has an archive of images on her hard drives, many of which are never shared, let alone post-processed from her years of experience diving and exploring. It’s that act of being out there in the field she loves the most, and only her most inspiring moments make it to her portfolio.

“Honestly, the act of photographing itself is what I love most. Most of my images never even get shared — they live on a hard drive. I often struggle to edit my own work, because for me, the magic is in the experience,” Moore explained.

That artistic curation and ability to practice restraint in her portfolio ensures she has a powerful body of work, especially when she does have so many hours of dive time from living at sea, only the very best or most compelling images make it.

With portfolio as strong as Moore’s, it takes that dedication and experience to both connect with wildlife on the animal’s terms, but also to know where and when to be, to even create such extraordinary moments in the first place. It takes a great deal of planning and preparation, with a hefty dash of flexibility to adapt to what nature has in store.

However, therein lies the challenge, as many aspects are out of a photographer’s control when working with wildlife. However, through careful planning and with her years of experience, Moore minimizes risk, especially for her production shoots, by being adaptable and relying on her intuition and expertise to guide her.

“Nature rarely cooperates with a shot list. Weather, wind, waves, and visibility can make shooting difficult — especially on production shoots. But I’ve learned to lean into whatever nature gives me. If it’s stormy, I try to capture the storm’s power. If visibility is bad, maybe it’s a moody close-up kind of day. It’s all about adaptability and working with the conditions instead of fighting them,” Moore says.

“When I’m in the water with wild animals, I don’t carry expectations. Respect is everything. Many people chase encounters — trying to tick off species or get the ‘perfect’ shot. But animals are incredibly sensitive to energy. I’ve learned to slow down, make eye contact, and give them space. Often, that space allows their curiosity to guide the encounter. I don’t chase. I try not to interrupt their path. If they swim away, I let them — and sometimes they come back. That kind of honest connection is far more rewarding than any photo.

“With wildlife, there’s rarely a clear concept going in. Nature is unpredictable. That’s what I love about it. I never know what kind of image I’ll capture when I enter the ocean. Animals don’t take direction. They don’t repeat behaviors. It keeps me fully present. My main goal in the water is to be respectful and open. I observe first, connect if possible, and only shoot if it feels like a mutual interaction. Most of the creative work happens afterward, in post-processing. That’s when I bring the moment to life, not by altering reality, but by highlighting the beauty I saw and felt.”

While such a simple concept, Moore’s restraint and patience allow her to create such compelling imagery when working with sensitive species. Her portfolio includes whales with their calves, sharks up close, and schools of skittish fish surrounding her lens, entirely at ease, with her in the center like the maestro conducting her orchestra.

It’s these types of encounters that she finds most meaningful. Previously, Moore shared with PetaPixel an incredibly powerful experience she had while diving in French Polynesia when she was able to create an image peering eye to eye with a juvenile humpback whale whom she nicknamed “Sweet Girl” for its inquisitive and friendly demeanor.

Of the encounter, Moore wrote, “Unlike another whale we had swum with earlier, her movements were slow and controlled. Despite her calm demeanor, we still swam away from her whenever she approached, maintaining a respectful distance for almost an hour.

“I knew I could trust her, and she could trust me. For the next five minutes, we stayed eye-to-eye at the surface, with her coming even closer — just inches away. I held her gaze and zoomed in with my 16-35mm lens, trusting the animal-eye tracking to work. I pointed my camera toward her eye, and just as she rolled upside down, I pressed the shutter, capturing the last bit of sunlight illuminating her eye.

“The way she looked at me left an indelible mark on my memory—it was one of the most powerful and profound moments of my life. I wanted to capture that direct eye contact so I could always feel the power of that encounter. When I was in the water with Sweet Girl, I was focused on the moment, not on getting the perfect shot. But when she rolled and gave me that perfect opportunity, I knew I had to capture that eye.”

Tragically, Sweet Girl’s story does not have a happy ending. Just four days after Moore’s life-changing experience with the humpback whale, the animal was struck and killed by a “fast-moving ship, likely a ferry traveling between Tahiti and Mo’orea based on AIS data from that day,” Moore sadly explained.

As if she had not already dedicated her life to championing Marine conservation, the tragic passing of Sweet Girl led to Moore launching a petition urging the French Polynesian government to enact strict speed limits for large vessels during whale season when these animals are at their most vulnerable gathering near the surface.

“Ocean conservation is the heart of my work. In my lifetime alone, I’ve witnessed massive changes — reefs I loved have gone from vibrant to completely dead. I’ve watched coral bleaching events unfold in real time, picked up more and more plastic on every dive, and felt ocean temperatures rising year after year,” Moore says.

“My goal isn’t to create doom-and-gloom imagery, but to inspire people to protect what’s still worth fighting for. I want to show the beauty of our oceans and their inhabitants in a way that invites connection and care. We can’t protect what we don’t love.”

Since launching her petition, it has garnered over 50,000 signatures from around the world, and she hopes that the upcoming UNOC conference this June in France will add additional International pressure to enact these life-saving measures for wildlife.

For now, Moore continues to post her unique life at sea via her Instagram, leads ethical ocean expeditions, and chases her dreams of working on high-production marine documentaries to share her passion for oceanic wildlife and conservation.

“While I’m not currently hosting workshops or gallery shows, I do run ocean expeditions that focus on respectful, conservation-minded wildlife encounters. I was so deeply inspired by nature documentaries as a child, and I’ve spent years building a life around the ocean, getting comfortable with wildlife, honing my skills. While I’ve focused mainly on photography recently, film has always been a passion,” Moore says.

“I’ve been quietly capturing footage over the years and I hope to work on more documentary-style projects soon — ideally with organizations like BBC, Nat Geo, or Discovery. That’s been a lifelong dream.”

Image credits: Rachel Moore