Bio

I'm Alex, an explorer, underwater photographer, and marine biologist. I'm in love with the underwater world. The World Ocean is as close as you can get to outer space without leaving Earth. It's an entirely different universe, nothing like the life we have on land. And while people dream about alien life forms from other planets, there is another universe right here, closer than anyone expects. I have been studying and documenting this world for more than 15 years, organizing expeditions to the far-off corners of the planet, spending days and weeks under the ice in the middle of nowhere. I share all my findings by giving lectures, teaching school classes, writing books, and making movies. I've spent more than 2,500 hours underwater in various conditions, from relaxed coral inspections to extreme diving in the harshest of environments far from any safe infrastructure. I've been close to death at sea about ten times. I hope that's where the score stops because now I know almost everything about diving operations, equipment, and the safety of work underwater and above the surface at various levels of complexity. Since 2010 I have been working as the head of the diving service of the White Sea Biological Station of Lomonosov Moscow State University. I actively dive on my own, arrange diving for searching and collecting biological material for scientific and educational purposes, and help to conduct versatile underwater experimental works with other researchers. I lead a small professional diving team at the station and teach university students and volunteers who come every year to gain experience and learn from seasoned specialists. I have the unique opportunity to observe, photograph, and film the beauty in the underwater darkness, which led me to multiple collaborations with National Geographic, BBC, Nature and Science Magazines, the Smithsonian Institution, and many more. And also with people from the scientific community all around the world.