Jodi Frediani is a Monterey Bay based humpback whale researcher and photographer specializing in marine species, whose travels have taken her to Africa, Argentina, Antarctica, Baja California Sur, Brazil, Franz Josef Land, Norway, Thailand, and the Caribbean and South Pacific where she has been regularly swimming with humpback whales since 2002. Her images have been recognized for excellence in multiple national and international competitions and juried exhibits, including 1st Place Black and White, 2023 Nature Photographer of the Year Competition (NPOTY), 1st Place Art of Nature, 2017 Cal Academy of Sciences Big Picture Competition, 1st Place Wildlife, 23rd Julia Margaret Cameron Award, and People’s Choice Nominee, 2022 Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Her images have also garnered numerous Honorable Mentions including the 2021 Nature Photographer of the Year (NPOTY) Competition, 23rd Edition of the Julia Margaret Cameron Award, the 28th & 29th Editions of the Memorial Maria Louisa International Photo Contest, 2023 & 2019 Siena International Photo Awards, 2020 Share the View International Photo Contest and 14th Annual Spider Awards. Her work has appeared in numerous national and international publications, as well as being featured by the BBC and National Geographic. See more: www.jodifrediani.com or on Facebook. Frediani co-edited the recently published anthology Wild Monterey Bay, which includes many of her photos illustrating more than 40 personal accounts of people’s most memorable wildlife encounters on the bay. www.wildmontereybay.com She was lead author on two published scientific papers on humpback whales, Postmortem Attractions: Humpback Whales Investigate the Carcass of a Killer Whale-Depredated Gray Whale Calf and Humpback Whales Blow Poloidal Vortex Bubble Rings. She co-authored the paper Interactive bioacoustic playback as a tool for detecting and exploring nonhuman intelligence: “conversing” with an Alaskan humpback whale. Frediani is a member of the WhaleSETI research team, WhaleSETI.org* She has also contributed fluke identification photos regularly to Happywhale.com to assist in studying the behavior of humpback whales worldwide.