Q&A: Dr Richard Smith

Scuba Diver Editor-at-Large (Australia and New Zealand) Adrian Stacey talks to Dr Richard Smith about nudibranchs, the lure of Aussie diving, and pygmy seahorses

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DR RICHARD SMITH

Q: What first attracted you to the oceans? A: I grew up in a fairly land-locked part of the UK and didn’t have much opportunity to visit the ocean growing up. Ever since I was a small child, however, I was absolutely obsessed with nature. I would run around the garden catching bugs, and had a bunch of weird and wonderful pets growing up. Scuba was never something I’d really thought about until a friend learned when I was 16. Suddenly, I discovered how accessible scuba was and I wanted to get underwater and learn more about the ocean’s creatures. My father and I learned to dive in a British quarry before visiting the Great Barrier Reef on the way to see some friends in Melbourne. As soon as I did my first dive on a coral reef, I was hooked. It was lucky we already had the Australia trip booked, as the British quarry dives were very much less inspiring!

Q: How did you get started in underwater photography, and what advice would you give to aspiring new photographers? A: I first got into underwater photography when trying to identify nudibranchs. I had been working on a marine conservation project in Indonesia, and was often coming across slugs that I couldn’t identify. I would draw sketches on my slate, but there are so many species-specific details that if I missed one then an ID would be impossible. In fact, I now know that many of them were undescribed, which is why I couldn’t find them in the books! I started underwater photography, to make the ID process easier and it went from there.

The advice I would give an aspiring underwater photographer, would be to get plenty of dive experience under your belt before picking up a camera. It inevitably takes a while to get experienced enough in diving to get buoyancy perfect and to have spent some time observing the animals and learning about and feeling comfortable in the underwater environment. I had done 500 dives before properly getting into underwater photography, and I think this allowed me to learn a lot before getting stuck into photography.

Whaleshark

A discarded drinks can provides an unlikely home

Q: Which destinations or species are still on your to do list? A: Gosh, there are so many! I want to explore more around Japan. I have done two big dive trips there and in 2018 named the Japanese pygmy seahorse, Hippocampus japapigu. There are so many interesting endemic species found only in Japanese waters that I’d still love to see. There’s also a dwarf seahorse in the Red Sea that I’d love to study! Oh, and another dwarf seahorse in the Gulf of Mexico, which I really hope I can see later this year. Plus, I’d really love to do a Western Australia road trip. After finishing my PhD in Brisbane, my buddy and I drove down to Tasmania diving along the way, we did the same another time along much of the south coast and south of Perth. A trip north from Perth is definitely on my wishlist, with a ton of species I’d love to see. Actually, if I can dream anything, I’d add Rowley Shoals onto that trip!

Vibrant soft corals

I first got into underwater photography when trying to identify nudibranchs. I had been working on a marine conservation project in Indonesia, and was often coming across slugs that I couldn’t identify

Q: Who are your heroes in the dive community? A: I would say that Ned and Anna DeLoach have been huge inspirations for me. I have always been inseparable from their ID book series whenever I’m on a trip (so happy they have digital versions now, they previously accounted for half my weight allowance!). We finally met through some mutual friends about a decade ago, and we’ve been buddies ever since exploring southern Australia, Japan and plenty of spots in Indonesia together. We have a very similar mind set about observing natural behaviours underwater, hunting for new and undescribed species, and capturing images of them where we can. I’ve been fortunate to do many dives with them around the world and we have plans for more as soon as we can. We were due to be back in Japan last May, but that was obviously postponed. Most importantly though, they co-founded The Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) which does incredible conservation work to protect coral reefs around the world. That’s quite a legacy.

Isopod in the mouth of an anemonefish Q: What was the inspiration for your latest book? A: I wanted to introduce people to some of the underdogs of the reef. My research was on pygmy seahorses, and there’s a chapter on them of course, but there are so many other amazing creatures that I’ve encountered on my travels that I wanted people to meet. I wrote the book to be accessible to anyone; it is a popular science book and certainly isn’t a strict scientific tome. There’s definitely an element of adventure and discovery in the book, which I hope illustrates how much we still have to learn about the oceans. I hope that through the book, people gain a sense of understanding and empathy for the animals we meet and ultimately want to protect them and their home.

Q: How have you been keeping busy during the pandemic? A: I’ve spent lockdown in the British countryside, and there are certainly worse places to have been sheltering. I only managed two dives on the South Coast over the past 18 months, as we’ve been in and out of lockdowns.

Something that I consider quite an achievement, given the state of things, is that colleagues and I published our description of the South African pygmy seahorse – Hippocampus nalu - last year. It’s the first pygmy from the Indian Ocean, so was very exciting and we had been keen to publish the work since I went to South Africa to observe this species with my colleague Dr Louw Claassens the year before.

Q: What do you feel is the biggest threat to our oceans now and what do you think could be done about it? A: I think our biggest problem is overconsumption. Many of the issues that the oceans are having to deal with, such as climate change induced coral bleaching, pollution and over-fishing are all directly related to it. I think changes are coming, but we all need to play our part now in making conscious choices and decisions that minimise our footprint on the planet. This can be down to the food we eat, the clothes we wear… it really touches every part of our lives. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Grey nurse sharks

I want to explore more around Japan. I have done two big dive trips there and in 2018 named the Japanese pygmy seahorse, Hippocampus japapigu

Dr Richard Smith, is a British award-winning underwater photographer, author and marine conservationist who aspires to promote an appreciation for the ocean’s inhabitants and raise awareness of marine conservation issues through his images. A marine biologist by training, Richard’s pioneering research on the biology and conservation of pygmy seahorses, led to the first PhD on these enigmatic fishes. Richard is a member of the IUCN Seahorse, Pipefish and Seadragon Specialist Group. He has named the two most recent pygmy seahorse discoveries from Japan, Hippocampus japapigu, and South Africa, H. nalu. Richard organizes and leads marine life expeditions where the aim is for participants to get more from their diving and photography by learning about the marine environment. His bestselling book, ‘The World Beneath: The Life and Times of Unknown Sea Creatures and Coral Reefs’ is out now: www.OceanRealmImages.com

Divers on a wall dive

Orangutan crab

Q: A question we always ask in our Q&As is, what is your most memorable moment in diving? A: Undoubtedly witnessing the birth and, just 20 minutes later, the mating of Denise’s pygmy seahorses on the house reef of Wakatobi Dive Resort in Indonesia was a lifetime highlight. I’m not sure there’s anyone else alive who has been this lucky. Well, I say lucky, but it took months of watching and plotting their reproductive cycles to be able to time the moment of birth to an hour or so window. Watching the tiny male seahorse, just 1.8cm long, swim off his gorgonian home in strong current to release his brood, was both mesmerising and nerve wracking in equal measure.

Q: On the flipside of that what is your hairiest diving memory? A: Some of the most upsetting moments for me have been while witnessing our impacts on the oceans. I have come across huge ghost nets in marine parks that continue to trap unsuspecting fishes, I saw two sharks at Darwin Island in the Galapagos Islands with their dorsal fins cut off for the sharkfin trade – although these were the lucky ones. Probably the very worst though is seeing a coral reef bleaching. On a few occasions I have seen entire reefs bleached pure white thanks to climate change and resulting warmer ocean waters.

This impacts not only the corals, but every other species that rely on them. Some, such as butterflyfishes we may notice, but the tiny crabs, shrimps, sea stars, worms or other organisms that might not yet even have a name are equally impacted.

Q: What does the future hold for Dr Richard Smith? A: I’d love to know the answer to that question! Right now, as restrictions slowly begin to lift here in the UK and I’ve had my first vaccination, I hope to get back in the water locally. Colleagues and I are working on another new discovery from South Africa, which I hope will be out later this year. Beyond that, I’m keen to get back to learning more about the ocean’s amazing inhabitants. n