June 8th, 2009, was designated by the United Nations as World Oceans Day. This year will mark the fourteen-year. It’s a day encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment. We can all do a better job making a difference, and our lives depend on it.
The World Oceans Day theme is Revitalization. Collective action for the ocean. What will you do to make a difference on June 8th? Here’s my plan!
Custom carve a #Mts4n 603 shell for Ocean Day 2022
Place fourteen empty shells in the coastal forest for hermit crabs in need
Spread the word! #revitalization
Keila Gaballo created this beautiful art piece to honor and celebrate World Oceans Day. It was inspired by one of my #mts4n hermit crab photographs. Check out her website
I will place fourteen shells in the coastal forest for hermit crabs in need. I often find hermit crabs adapting with single-use plastic. Shell over-collecting is a huge problem in Okinawa.
If you would like to support Hermit Crab Conservation please check out my Patreon page. MakeTheSwitch4Nature
It’s been a blast shooting with the Nikon D500 DSLR combined with the Nauticam Na-D500 housing. I am pleased with the superior quality and design of the entire system. My underwater rig is setup for shooting macro with two Sea & Sea YS-D2 strobes and a variety of Sola lights. I customized it slightly by mounting a Light & Motion Sola compact tray and loc-line arm kit to the bottom of the housing. This allows me to easily attach other Sola lights underwater based on my vision.
Nauticam NA-D500 shower
My favorite features of the Nauticam NA-500 Underwater housing
Internal camera lock-to prevent movement
Vacuum and leak detection system, Green is good!
Port lock system and audible housing lock latches
Super responsive optic flash system
Comfortable hand grips
I tested the Nikon D500 system with the Nikon AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED lens and the Nikon AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G lens. Both are responsive and quality pieces of glass. The great news is that they 40mm is compatible in the NAU-18701 port as well.
Below are my favorite fourteen photographs taken with the D500 underwater in the beautiful waters of Okinawa.
Bobtail Squid – D500|40mm
Hermit crab – D500|40mm
Reef squid D500|60mm
Nudibranch D500|40mm
Chromodoris hintuanensis D500|60mm
Paintpot cuttlefish D500|60mm
Dinahs Goby D500|60mm
Flatworm D500|60mm
Ryukyu Eyes D500|40mm
Pontoh’s Pygmy Seahorse D500|60mm
Fluorescence Nikon| 60mm
Bobtail squid D500|60mm
Eyes of Okinawa D500 | 60mm
If your planning on buying a Nauticam underwater housing online, I recommend Bluewater Photo, they are extremely knowledgable and have outstanding customer service.
In 2014 Typhoon Neoguri brought in heavy winds and lots of rain. I have experienced many typhoons since 1989 but nothing like this. Typhoon Neoguri was the worse flooding I have ever seen. These photographs are from 2014, better late than never.
The rain was overwhelming and caused extreme flooding. The Nagaham dam overflow reservoir could not keep up with the amount of rain.
The massive amount of water caused hundreds of tilapia and mullet to wash ashore on the local farm roads.
Tilapia are a non-native fish. They were brought here as a food source in the mid-1900s. They have taken over most freshwater sources and compete with native aquatic animals on Okinawa.
With all the rainwater the coastline turned a bright orange. Red soil runoff contributes to coral reef bleaching and fertilizers entering the water from local farming fields.
“Crabs with beach trash homes” was featured in one of the most influential issues of National Geographic Magazine of all time. June 2018 National Geographic launched Planet or Plastic. This powerful issue focuses on bringing awareness to the worldwide plastic pollution problem and efforts to reduce the single-use plastic waste.
June 2018, National Geographic replaced the plastic cover with a paper cover ( PEFC-Certified Paper ) that can be recycled. This is a huge step in reducing the big problem of single-use plastic pollution in our oceans one small step at a time. The Editors did an outstanding job on this powerful ocean impact issue of National Geographic.
Belowleft is the new paper cover and on the right is the previous plastic cover
What a powerful National Geographic cover by Artist Jorge Gambo. The cover is a plastic bag resembling and Iceberg. This is one of the best covers of all time in my opinion. I was fortunate to get my hands on a Japanese issue as well.
Planet Or Plastic Cover
Excited and honored to have one of my photographs from Okinawa featured in the National Geographic Planet or Plastic Exhibition at the Church of Santa Maria della Vita in Bologna, Italy. Exhibition Date: 04/15/2019 – 09/22/2019
Photograph by Paolo Righi
Photograph by Paolo Righi
Planet or Plastic Iconic Photographs
Learn more about reducing waste and making a difference. TEDx OIST Talk – Adapting to Our Changing Environment by Shawn Miller
If you would like to see more of my work in National Geographic Magazine, below are four powerful issues that featured the Endangered Species of Okinawa. (WILDLIFE AS CANON SEES IT)
Anderson’s crocodile newt by Shawn Miller. 11/2020 National Geographic
Amami Oshima frog by Shawn Miller. 08/2019 National Geographic
Kuroiwa’s Ground Gecko by Shawn Miller. 10/2017 National Geographic
Okinawa woodpecker by Shawn Miller. 05/2015 National Geographic
People often ask me what is the purpose of conservation photography?Having the ability to affect some form of positive change in the environment and make a global difference with the photographs. Hopefully, the images will inspire people to care more about nature and make a positive difference in the environment.
Let’s Make The Switch 4 Nature before it’s too late
My Mission: To Protect and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands for Future Generations. – If you would like to join my journey, check out my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/MakeTheSwitch4Nature
Get Fa-Millerized with the Nature of the Ryukyu Islands – – – – SUBSCRIBE BELOW
