Michaël Roelens
“Pics or it didn’t happen is more than my mantra, it’s my divelog!”
If you’ve ever been diving along the Great Southern Reef, then you know the excitement surrounding the emblematic leafy and weedy seadragons. Perth-based, GSR enthusiast, and underwater photographer, Michaël Roelens loves capturing the essence and beauty of these dreamy marine animals.
Roelens first saw a weedy seadragon at Kurnell, in Sydney, shortly after completing his open water course in 2014. Since his first training dives, he is never without a camera when underwater.
Image of Michaël Roelens
Best dive is a night dive
Michael Roelens’ favourite thing about the Great Southern Reef is the variety, the colours and the night life.
Over his years of underwater photography, this passionate Perth based diver has managed to capture plenty of weird and wonderful creatures. Carpet sharks, wobbegongs, basket stars, dragonets, sea moths…and many more.
A seadragon whisperer
Passionate about conservation of these unique species, Roelen’s has made an impact through organising club dives in the Perth area and generating awareness surrounding endemic species, and specifically of course, the seadragons.
“Most people have a rough understanding about how colourful and expansive the Great Barrier Reef is, but the Great Southern Reef is much more expansive… and has all sorts of spectacular species of fauna and flora that deserve much more care and attention than many people realise.”
Crazy about cephalopods
In addition to his obsession with seadragons, Michael Roelens is also particularly fascinated by cephalopods.
It was actually seeing a giant Australian cuttlefish on snorkel at Clovelly beach near Sydney that first prompted Roelen’s curiosity about the GSR.
“I suddenly witnessed this massive alien looking thing swim underneath me, brightly red and yellow coloured. I followed it for a bit. Turned out to be a giant Australian cuttlefish. Since then, I’ve been hooked, started scuba diving, and took underwater pictures even before the course was finished.”
Michael is a valued contributor of the Great Southern Reef Image Bank, a resource for media stories on the GSR. Make sure to follow his page @seadragonwhisperer for more of his interesting underwater findings.
Learn about more passionate photographers and artists inspired by the Great Southern Reef.
