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Green surf anemones and purple urchins reflect beautifully in a tidepool, British Columbia, Canada
 

This week’s Photographer of the Week, Andrew McCurdy, is a marine biologist, professional diver and photographer. He grew up in southern Ontario and had his first foray into the underwater world in British Columbia on a short dive trip. As many of us have experienced, diving in British Columbia can be a life-changing experience, and after his visit, Andrew says he knew he had to continue on with diving and exploring the ocean. He moved to Nova Scotia to pursue his studies as a marine biologist and spent as much time as he could underwater on a student budget.

As a photographer, Andrew works to share the beauty and uniqueness of cold water life. The diversity and colors in cold water continually inspire him to explore and create new images to share. Working almost exclusively with wide-angle lenses, he seeks to capture both the subject and how it fits into its environment. These type of images can be perhaps most important for conveying the beauty of underwater life and ecosystems.

Andrew is lucky enough to work on many projects that give him access to remote locations along the coast of British Columbia. He takes advantage of these unique opportunities to photograph places that most people don’t get to see. When not working as a marine biologist or scientific photographer, he spends his free time scuba diving or freediving. He is based in Ucluelet, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, but travels to just south of Alaska for work—and, he says, he never leaves home without his camera.
 

A big school of widow rockfish cruising the dark water of Klemtu, British Columbia, Canada
 

A free-swimming juvenile wolf eel in a fjord near Klemtu, British Columbia, Canada
 

A large and curious giant Pacific octopus reaches out to inspect the camera, British Columbia, Canada
 

A minute orange hermit crab, surrounded by life, Klemtu, British Columbia, Canada
 

Beautiful sun rays and swaying kelp, Ucluelet, British Columbia, Canada
 

A young golden king crab clinging to a Pacific sea peach, Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada
 

A pair of swimming anemones… not swimming, Klemtu, British Columbia, Canada
 

The lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest, a salmon fry (in this case a coho) being observed by a snorkeler, Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada
 

A small giant Pacific octopus on the hunt near Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada
 

Steller’s sea lion coming in for a closer look, Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada
 

A spotted ratfish (chimaera) closing in on a mass of squid and squid eggs, British Columbia, Canada
 

A large basket star feeding in the shallows near Calvert Island, British Columbia, Canada
 

Freediving on a winter day in Ucluelet, British Columbia, Canada
 

Rock crabs devouring squid eggs while the squid mate all around them, British Columbia, Canada
 

To see more of Andrew’s beautiful work and follow his adventures, please visit his Instagram page.