Scubazoo is a team of professional underwater camera operators who have an intense love and dedicated appreciation for ocean habitat. Based in Sabah, the northern tip of the island of Borneo in Malaysia and the epicentre of the planet’s greatest marine biodiversity, their extensive experience, scientific knowledge and passion for filming underwater are the facets that make this team so unique.

They have worked on a wide spectrum of underwater projects, including some of television’s most exciting and award-winning wildlife and documentary programmes, such as Sir David Attenboroughs’s epic series, Life in Cold Blood. Their photographs have appeared in countless magazine articles, books, posters, brochures and renowned conservation campaigns, firmly establishing them as one of the world’s leading underwater image library organisations.

During the course of a single year, the Scubazoo collective will have encountered killer whales, giant octopus, ferocious Humboldt squid, beluga whales, thresher sharks, ocean sunfish, humpback whales and basking sharks, to name but a few. ‘One shot I really had to work for was of a yawning weedy scorpionfish,’ says Jason Isley, their Co-founder, managing director and photographer. ‘It took five long dives over a period of two weeks just to catch the shot exactly how I wanted it.’

However, it is not all about just taking good pictures. Their projects also aim to raise awareness about all the various threats to marine habitat and the urgent need for its preservation. To this end they have published a range of items. From each purchase made, Scubazoo donate a percentage to the Marine Conservation Society and the Coral Reef Alliance, to help fund the continuation of reef preservation programmes and ensure the survival of valuable marine species.

Reef: Exploring The Underwater World is a unique pictorial celebration of the world’s reefs, from Southeast Asia to the Red Sea and Hawaii, revealing an underwater realm as it has never been seen before. This stunning, coffee table book is a 360-page-turning journey up through the ecological chain, from algae to sponges, to molluscs and the thousands of fish that make their homes in and around these precious eco-systems.

Readers can also support the two reef charities by choosing from a range of high quality, dazzling, canvas wall prints, selected from images used inside the book. In addition to the cause, Scubazoo’s ever-expanding image library is actively supporting a Say No to Plastic’ Campaign in Sabah, with the production of cloth shopping bags, thus helping to reduce the amount of plastic wantonly discarded into the sea environment.

Through their amazing footage, research, video productions and publications, Scubazoo aim to tell The Whole Story’ of the marine environment. Their key focus is to create a better awareness of the beauty and vulnerability of our blue planet’s most precious eco-systems, by reaching as many people as possible ñ divers and non-divers, sea-siders and city residents, both young and old alike. ‘We hope that by sharing our pictures,’ says the team’s Chief Executive Officer and cameraman Simon Christopher, ‘we can foster real appreciation for the world’s reefs and help communicate the urgent need for their conservation and preservation.’

To purchase Reef: Exploring The Underwater World’
which includes a bonus 30-minute DVD
ISBN 9780756631222 20
Published by Dorling Kindersley
or to buy a canvas wall print
Contact: Scubazoo Images S/B,
PO BOX 15475, 88864 Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah, Malaysia
Tel: +60 88 232068
Website: www.scubazoo.com

Top: Skubazoo’s directors, from left to right:
Roger Munns, Simon Christopher, Jason Isley,
Simon Enderby and Matthew Oldfield
Photo: © Skubazoo