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Not just Shark Pictures: Elasmodiver contains photos of sharks, skates, rays, and chimaera's from around the world. It began as a simple web based field guide to help divers find the best places to encounter different species of sharks and rays but it has slowly evolved into a much larger project containing information on all aspects of shark diving and photography. There are now more than a thousand shark pictures and sections on shark evolution, biology, and conservation. There is a large library of reviewed shark books, a constantly outdated shark taxonomy page, a monster list of shark links, and deeper in the site there are numerous articles and stories about shark encounters. Elasmodiver is now so difficult to check for updates, that new information and pictures are listed on an Elasmodiver Updates Page that can be accessed here:
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ELASMODIVER EXPANDED If you're looking for a broader range of marine life pictures the following links represent a new area that contains pictures on other marine organisms and on marine habitats. This expansion of Elasmodiver is in its first stages but will eventually include pages on everything from sea stars to nudibranches. Creating this portal will take time and for now it consists of a token offering of fish pictures. Please return regularly to enjoy the progress.
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| Bio of Andy Murch Shark and Ray Photographer |
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Andy Murch is the Creator of the Elasmodiver Shark and Ray Field Guide and the Staff Photographer at Shark Diver magazine. He is also a Submersible Pilot Instructor for Seamagine Hydrospace. Andy is available for photographic assignments whenever time constraints allow. |
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Photograph of Andy and Great Hammerhead. Courtesy of Anna Abernathy |
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A Brief History Having escaped from the UK in the 1980's Andy wandered the planet in search of adventure. Over a 20 year span he has traveled through more than 70 countries collecting experiences and images. In the mid 90's
Andy worked as a Dive Master in the Bay Islands of Honduras which gave him the
foundation for later opportunities in the diving world. In early 2000 he joined SEAmagine
Hydrospace Corporation as a Submersible Pilot. After training in the Kelp
forests of California's Catalina Island Andy became Operations Manager with
Cayman Submariners and presently works as a Consultant Pilot and Instructor for
SEAmagine when he is not looking for sharks.
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In mid 2004 Andy started writing and shooting for Shark Diver Magazine. His images and articles have appeared in all subsequent issues and he is now Shark Diver Magazine's Staff Photographer. His shark photographs have also appeared in a wide variety of other publications ranging from the journal Zoology to FHM. His images have also been used by many organizations including Discover Channel, the Smithsonian, and National Geographic.
Andy's Mission Recognizing the need to publicize the fragile position of many lesser known sharks, Andy now spends his free time tracking down endangered sharks that have not yet been photographed. With around 300 species of sharks yet to be recorded, he is entrenched in a daunting mission which often involves costly expeditions to look for elusive species. Some of the conservation organizations that have utilized Andy's unique images include: WWF, IUCN, Shark Alliance, Ocean Conservancy, Shark Trust and many other NGOs and government bodies.
Photography Courses To help finance his expeditions Andy teaches an in depth Digital SLR photography course that he designed to improve the skills of underwater photographers who have recently made the leap from point and shoot to the DSLR level.
Underwater Photography Workshop Course Outline.
A list of articles by Andy Murch
Covers by Andy Murch
Other than his sons Aron and Luke, Andy's passion is still the pursuit of strange and elusive sharks and rays.
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His love affair with
sharks and rays started shortly after he learned to dive. The more species
he encountered on his travels the more he wanted to document them in
pictures for others to share. As he learned of new obscure elasmobranch
species Andy became frustrated with the
vague information available for locating and diving with them. It seemed that an
online database would be a good way to share the information that he had gathered
and would allow other shark enthusiasts to contribute new species from their
areas. Elasmodiver was loaded on to the web at the end of 2002. Recognizing a
commercial demand for unusual shark and ray images
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