Back from Antarctica

I have just spent 4 months in Antarctica on Sea Shepherd's 10th Campaign down in the Southern Ocean OPERATION RELENTLESS.

Another year of relentless intervening with the illegal operations of the Japanese whaling fleet in a recognized whale sanctuary.

I was producing for the show Whale Wars on board the vessel M/Y Bob Barker.

Here is a quick video produced by the photographers Marianna Baldo and Simon Ager about the media team on the Bob Barker.

Hope you enjoy!



Let me know what do you think on the comments below.

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Relentlessly - Article for Sea Shepherd Australia.

I wrote a blog post for Sea Shepherd Australia during Operation Relentless.

You can see it on SS Australia's page if you will on the tittle bellow.

Relentlessly

 Saturday, 25 January 2014

Carolina A Castro

As I walk into the bridge I see a big man resting tall on the captain’s chair of The Ocean Warrior. His hair is grey and his gaze is rather intense. I introduce myself and he doesn’t seem too impressed; he is wearing a Hawaiian shirt and jeans-shorts. Somehow it isn’t exactly what I expected, we exchange a few words and I go back to whatever I was doing before. It was definitely a strong first impression, after 13 years I can still remember it as if it were yesterday.

I also remember him telling the crew that he was going to Antarctica at the end of the year to stop the illegal whaling Japan was conducting down there. The whole thing was new to me. I was young and inexperienced. I knew for as long as I could remember that I wanted to do something for the environment. When I was about 14 I hung up a picture I found in a magazine of Julia Butterfly Hill, a young woman who climbed an old-growth sequoia tree and said she was going to stay up there to defend the forest. I thought that was amazing.

The year was 2001 and Paul Watson did not manage to make it to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. As a matter of fact not many people had even heard of Sea Shepherd back then. He did manage to gather the resources the next year and take that same ship, now renamed after the author Farley Mowat, down to the cold seas.

To think of that now does seem fantastic to me. Everyone I speak to nowadays knows what Sea Shepherd is and what we do. It is a big difference. But at the same time it is the same, really. We are just a bunch of people who got tired of waiting for the government or “someone” to do what is right. We are just tired of the indifference and of seeing our planet get robbed of its biodiversity at an ever-increasing rate.

Ten years after that first encounter I sat down again to speak to Paul. He spoke about the dedication and amount of time it takes to tackle an issue. When I asked him about the whaling in the North Pacific and other places, he took a deep breath and told me that these things take time, you can’t give up on an issue until it is actually resolved, and we only have enough resources to deal with something so big at one time.

Florida Sandhill Crane

For years I have been coming to the green swamp in central Florida. So, to see the Florida’s Sandhill cranes is no news to me.

Here at the Wallaby Ranch, we see them often. Recently, though I have noticed a larger number of birds then usual in one spot.

A Sandhill Crane watches a hang glider being towed at the Wallaby Ranch.

Also in the last few years I started seeing them on the most unusual places, such as by the door of the supermarket, or on a sidewalk by the post office. These areas used to be swamp or open field only 4 or 5 years ago.

"Live Oak" on SNAP!

SNAP! is an amazing photography event in Orlando, Florida. It Showcases the work of renowned photographers as well as emerging talent, like myself!

They were holding a competition to find the talent for this year’s show themed “Motion to Light” and I decide to participate.

A couple of weeks earlier I had done a study on fine art with the bulb mode of my camera. If that sounds like Greek to you, the bulb mode of the camera is a mode that enables you to open the shutter as you hold the button and then close it as you release it.

The shutter of the camera controls how much light reaches the sensor or film, as well as freezing or having motion in an image. If you do not understand these concepts and would like to learn about them, sign up for my newsletter, I am planning a series of videos to teach amateurs the basics of photography so you can actually take advantage of that new DSLR you just got.

I will email you the links of the videos as soon as they come out. Just enter your email and subscribe.

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Dream of Flying

I first came to the Wallaby Ranch Hang Gliding Club when I was 19 years old. I did a tandem flight and was instantly hooked. So, I decided I had to become a pilot. That moment really changed my life.

I clearly remember, as a child traveling on the highway in my home state, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; and hearing my grandfather enthusiastically shout at the back of the car to us kids “Look up, look up.”

I scrambled to the nearest window, looked up and there it was: a hang glider. I must have been about 6 or 7 years old. It was quite a sight. I thought who are this people that fly in those kites?

Well, about 12 years later I was one of those people! And gosh, was I happy to be me.

Lost on back roads of Bali.

This was shot near Ubud Bali.
Ubud is such a great place, so relaxed and full of culture.

My favorite thing to do whilst there is to rent a motorbike and just cruise around the area, and this is one the views you might stumble upon. Valleys and rice fields, friendly people and sweat warm wind blowing on your face.


Bali is one those great places that you can never get tired of exploring. Of course, Bali has changed so much from when travelers first started going there back in the 60s and 70s. Like any discovered paradise it got flooded with people and it has seen the unfortunate negatives sides of tourism. I am cooking up an article all about that subject so I will refrain from going there on this one.

I get amazed at how lovely and friendly the people of Bali are, specially when you think of the amount of tourists around. I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned from them. I would say that one of the most important ones is taking life lightly and living in the present.

The Balinese are very spiritual and their religion is originated from Hinduism in contrast to rest of Indonesia, which is mainly Muslim. They have ceremonies and traditions only found on the Island. One that I love is a ritual they have of leaving a little offering outside their houses for the bad spirits. That way those “bad spirits” get satisfied with the offering and stay out the door and out of everyone’s way, so to speak.

A basket full of offerings at one of many Balinese Temples.

This is one of my favorite candid portraits.

1st Thursday "The Art of Women" at the Orlando Museum of Art.

It was a great evening at the Orlando Museum of Art (OMA). It was wonderful to be one of the featured artists.
A big thanks to everyone that came.

   I made these pieces to portray the beauty and strength of femininity with a poetic touch.

    My idea was to give the viewer a feeling of outward search for inspiration while still maintaing inner strength and presence.

If you like these pieces and you are interested in showing, buying or publishing them, please do not hesitate to contact me for more information at
carolina@carolinaacastro.com

The Waiting Game - Article at Surf Girl Mag!

Natalie Fox, founder of Women for Whales has been featured at surfgirlmag.com
The article is illustrated by my photographs.

Here are a some of them.

Sea Shepherd Swinmwear

I had the pleasure to photograph Sara Keltie for GYPSEA Swimwear Australia.

Besides being gorgeous, Sara is also an amazing activist from Australia and she has crewed with Sea Shepherd on the SSS Bob Barker.

We did the photo shoot onboard the SSS Sam Simon in Hobart, Tasmania.

Here are the shots that were used:

The Unveiling of the SSS Sam Simon.

The newest Sea Shepherd Vessel has been unveiled.
The vessel is amazing and a great addition to The SSCS fleet.
The ship used to be a Japanese research vessel and now it is going to  be used to save whales in the Southern Ocean.
Lots of articles came in the international press about this event.

You can see a few on the links bellow.

The Guardian UK

Huffington Post

The Sydney Morning Herald

Sea Shepherd's Operation Requiem

I have spent 3 months in the south pacific on a shark defense campaign with SSCS.
I was the first mate and photographer onboard the M/V Brigitte Bardot.
There is an album with photos and a description of the campaign on my facebook page.
You do not need to have an facebook account to visualize it.

OP REQUIEM PHOTOGRAPHS

My favorite place in the world - Vanuatu!

That are not that many places in the world nowadays where you can see truly genuine people that live with their hearts fully open to the world.

I had been in Vanuatu once before about 5 years ago. Back then, seeing the way of life of the communities here had made me think that this was the most amazing place in the world. People really know the meaning of sustainability, low impact lifestyle and the importance of community for the individuals well being. 75% of the population lives rurally and mostly out of subsistence.

Sailing back into these waters, I was humbled by the Ni-Vanuatu once more. We have been here for almost two weeks now and have been doing a lot of outreach to the communities and teaching both adults and children on the importance of sharks for the survival of marine ecosystems and the response was extremely positive.

Whale Wars - Season 5 - Operation Divine Wind

   This past Feb/ Mar I worked as a videographer and producer for the TV show Whale Wars, that airs on Discovery's channel Animal Planet.
The show was shot during Sea Shepherd's Operation Divine Wind in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
   My footage can be seen on the season's finale, episode 8 "Target Acquired" which airs today on the USA.
   It was great to shot some of the most amazing moments of the campaign.
   My colleague Sam Sielen and I produced and shot the whole second leg of the campaign "Divine Wind" from the SSS Bob Barker; the last ship to leave Antarctica which is also the ship the found the whalers factory ship, the Nisshin Maru.

  On this episode you can see the most amazing footage of a night confrontation, interviews and the finding of the Nisshin Maru, shot by Sam and I.

My Article on Sea Shepherd .org

Update

Currently in the South Pacific.
Some photos on the Facebook page. More to come soon.

Solomon tribe

Traditional Canoes in the Solomon Islands

Operation Divine Wind 2011/2012

Sea Shepherd's 8th Antarctic Campaign down in Southern Ocean.
Every year SSCS goes down to Antarctica to fight illegal whaling.
There is a fleet of whalers from Japan that goes inside the Southern Whale Sanctuary and hunts up to 1035 whales each season, including the endangered Fin Whale, which is the second biggest animal in the world.

I have been a photographer on board the vessel M/Y Bob Barker on Operation DIVINE WIND.
Even with the Japanese government injecting around AUS$ 30 million dollars in this already bank corrupted whaling program, Sea Shepherd has managed to save 768 whales this season.

Please visit www.seashepherd.org for more information on this subject.

There is a comprehensive album of photos from the campaign aboard the M/Y Bob Barker on my Facebook page.
Here is the link, you do not have to have a Facebook account to visualize it.

See more photos.

Antarctica!

I will be gone for the next 3 months on one of the Sea Shepherd's vessels down to Antarctica to fight illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

I will not be able to update this page, so please follow up news and my photography at http://www.seashepherd.org/

Wild Dolphins

There are some of my photographs of wild dolphins publish in A Finish news article. To see click here.

Ferocious Islands 2011 Sea shepherd campaign.

I have been volunteering with Sea Shepherd for the summer of 2011, we did a campaign in the Faroe Islands to oppose the Grind, which is the hunt of pilot whales performed by the inhabitants of these islands.
They eat the whale meat which is highly contaminated with mercury and other pollutants.
There is no reliable studies that prove that this hunt is sustainable.

I have published a 105 photos on an album on my photography page on Facebook. You do not need to be a Facebook member to see it. You can see the album here.

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Facebook Page

This is my new facebook page, check it out and like it if you do, I will post photos of my travels and life onboard Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin.
 https://www.facebook.com/photocarolina