push our idea of discovery, as well as protecting the ecology of these incredible spaces too.”


Since becoming renowned for his work over a decade ago, Ballesta’s pursuit of ‘the next thing’ has maintained him not just as one of the very best at his craft, but someone who could drive stories and enchantment from the waves.


When clinching the ‘Portfolio’ category of Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2022, Ballesta put forward six pictures of some of the most almost clandestine underwater creatures imaginable. “If someone told you that they were villainous creatures from a science fiction movie, you could almost believe them,” he laughs.


“This brand of discovery has really pushed me forward in recent years. The sea still holds so much mystery to us – much more than land ever can now because we’ve trodden every square mile of it – and I want to show that to people.”


Ballesta’s brand of exploration has only been possible by putting to one side a common sea anxiety named thalassophobia – described as an intense fear of bodies of deep, dark water and what exists below the surface, that even some experienced divers can encounter.


Ballesta says: “I think the fear for me is always a much more rational one.


“We did a dive at Adélie Land, Antarctica, and despite the inhospitable environment, what is terrifying there is the pressure we put ourselves under – the fact that every day during the trip we knew it was going to be hard, physically and mentally.


“It’s interesting the stress we can bring on ourselves – a totally human construct in a totally alien environment – but we are always under time pressures.


“It was common that, around five hours of being in the cold, cold water, when sat on the ice and completely tired, deep in your head there would be a little voice saying: ‘Maybe you should take the day off tomorrow!’”


It wasn’t only Ballesta’s own wellbeing that he had to consider, but that of his team and his equipment too, with his cherished Nikon D810 camera often holding centre stage.


“Every day on any project you have to store the equipment, load it, unload it, dry everything, clean it – it’s a really long process. It’s never just a case of diving down, taking photos, resurfacing, and you’re done.


“What often happens is that you plan for a rest day the following day, yet the very last thing you have to do before going to sleep is download the memory card with the day’s photos on it. Predictably enough, when you view them, it quickly feels completely unacceptable to not go out again the following day – it’s that risk you have of missing something special, and almost always, it’s a risk you cannot take, so the following day, off we go again!”


While Ballesta’s renown is spread across many discoveries and many trips, being the first person to take a photograph of the Coelacanth – a huge lobe-finned fish that dates back 360 million years, yet previously thought extinct – that fills him with pride


76 | SUMMER 2023 | ONBOARD


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