Photographer and Freediver Bingqian Gao Receives the Dr. Sylvia Earle Award of Excellence for Endangered Marine Animals with Mobula munkiana Portfolio
BINGQIAN GAO WINS
Bingqian Gao is a London-based photographer, freediver, and storyteller exploring the intersection of nature, data, and planetary health. After a decade leading data strategy in the corporate world, she turned to the ocean as both subject and teacher. Her work bridges art and science – using imagery to inspire deeper understanding and connection with the natural world.
Believing that technology and storytelling can better serve the ocean, Bingqian also seeks to bring the ocean’s wisdom and restorative energy into workplaces and urban life. Through photography, short films, poetry, and data visualizations, she continues to explore how creative communication can advance conservation and help people cultivate a deeper connection with nature.
Bingqian Gao
OCEAN GEOGRAPHIC PICTURES OF THE YEAR
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OCEAN GEOGRAPHIC PICTURES OF THE YEAR 〰️
Rays of Hope – Taken with an upwards angle, this image presents a unique view of the majestic group of the Mobula munkiana in silhouette. Shot from beneath, the school becomes a slow-moving cloud of changing geometry, gliding with elegance and ease. The countless shadows and the light rays shining through the musty greenish water gives off a dreamy feeling. It’s a rarely seen perspective of this nature’s spectacle.
Munkiana Aggregation Through a Bird’s Eye – Viewed from the sky, the aggregation takes the shape of a slow, swirling mass - hundreds of Mobula munkiana moving in coordinated circles near the surface. They swirl and drift like a cloud, yet so coordinated as if orchestrated by an invisible conductor. With the lone snorkeler’s tiny presence against the vast scale of the school – it’s a reminder of both the ocean’s abundance and our small place within it.
Freedom in Formation – A close-up of a Mobula munkiana within a large school, gliding just beneath the photographer in breathtaking proximity - comfortable, as if travelling alongside teammates of its own kind. The delicate details leave imprints: the scratch marks across the skin, the gradients of colour across the body, the anatomy of its pelvic fins, and open wings that speak of freedom in the flow. Vulnerability becomes personal in the gaze of this one individual.
Leaping Ray And The Mating Train – A Mobula munkiana bursts from the water while others form a dynamic courting display known as the “mating train” beside it, all captured in a single frame – a rare glimpse of their courtship ritual, exuberant yet precarious.
Float Above The Cloud – A snorkeler follows a vast gathering of Mobula munkiana, arm stretched out holding an action camera attempting to capture this rare spectacle. It serves as a strong invitation to see the beauty and what’s at risk: to recognise the delicate line between abundance and loss, to witness the possibility of harmony, and to act now - so future generations may experience these spectacular ocean wonders with their own eyes.
Munkiana In The Blue – In the Sea of Cortez, many wildlife encounters unfold in the green - plankton-rich and hazy water, that’s where the food is. But once in a while, you get to see animals in the clear, fresh blue, and it’s quite a different experience. On this rare occasion, a small group of Mobula munkiana glides through beams of sunlight in crystal water, their wings catching the glittering light like mirrors. Their elegance seems suspended in the blue – a scene of serenity, and a quiet plea for their future.
“To witness their movements – hundreds gliding and swirling in silent harmony – is to glimpse the intelligence and order that exists beneath the surface,” says Bingqian Gao. “These images are both a celebration of beauty and a quiet plea of vulnerability.”
Currently listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List
Mobula munkiana faces threats from bycatch, habitat degradation, and the global trade in gill plates. Although not the most endangered of its family, its slow reproduction and specific habitat needs make its survival precarious in changing seas.
Join the #SaveTheMantas campaign in calling for a global ban on the international commercial trade of manta and devil rays at the CITES Conference of Parties (CoP) 20, by supporting their uplisting to Appendix I, and help protect these species from extinction. mantatrust.org
Bingqian sought input from marine scientists including Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara , Marta Diaz Palacios, and advisors from the Walter Munk Foundation for the Oceans, to ensure scientific accuracy in the accompanying conservation messaging. Giuseppe first described Mobula munkiana in 1987, and named the species after his mentor, Walter Munk.