Brandon D. Cole is a freelance wildlife photographer and writer specializing in the marine environment. Now based in landlocked eastern Washington, his work has carried him all over the world to play with the ocean's creatures. Even though much of his work focuses on large marine mammals such as whales, dolphins, and pinnipeds, he's just as enchanted with the little things creeping, crawling, and swimming about coral reefs and kelp forests. "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous," he asserts. Cole was first trained as a marine biologist and conducted research for the National Park Service, the University of California, and the Australian Institute of Marine Science on animals as diverse as sea slugs and larval fish. He now documents the natural history and beauty of marine wildlife on film. His work has appeared in numerous magazines, books, calendars, and other publications both in the U.S. and overseas. In 1995, he was presented with the Eric Hosking Award in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition for a portfolio of his marine wildlife imagery.
