A Deeper Dive
A trail of images told through the lens of Taylor Griffith
Taylor Griffith was born onto a planet bluer than most could imagine. As the grandson of legendary marine biologist Sylvia Earle and son of DOER Marine president Liz Taylor, a life connected to the ocean seemed almost inevitable. From a young age, he was drawn to the sea, exploring tide pools, studying kelp, and learning to see the ocean not just as a place, but as a living system full of stories.
Now based in Los Angeles, Taylor is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work spans photography, sculpture, printmaking, and time-based media. He collaborates with scientists and field researchers to collect imagery, recordings, and observations, transforming them into immersive artworks that invite audiences to reconsider their relationship with the natural world.
While each of the artists of the DeepDIVE collective brings invaluable skill and experience to the project, Taylor is a fount of knowledge for all of us. Conversations start with a simple question and derail into a seemingly endless trove of facts, stories and connections.
Each story draws you deeper, sparks your curiosity and ignites the passion for the ocean which is the cornerstone of the collective energy we need to build social and political change.
1. A Slippery Slope
Location: Cierva Cove, Antarctic Peninsula, 2023
Chinstrap penguins, known for their bold and territorial behavior, are among the toughest of their kind. But like many Antarctic species, they're under growing threat from industrial krill fishing—driven by demand for fish farming and krill oil supplements.
Krill are a vital food source for penguins, whales, and other marine life in the Antarctic. One impactful way to help: choose algae-based Omega-3s. It’s a direct, sustainable alternative that supports the health of fragile polar ecosystems.
2. When Pigs Float
Location: Big Major Cay, The Bahamas, 2025
To become a true ocean steward, we must first expand our conception of our lived environment from one that exists solely on land to one that encompasses the full scope of our Blue Planet. Of course, it helps when the waters are crystal clear, giving us a perfect cross-section of both. The best place to start is by putting on a dive mask and sticking your head underwater to see below the surface for yourself.
3. World Within A World
Location: St. Martin's Keys, Florida, 2025
Sometimes we have to really look closely at the world around us to understand the complexities of the environment. Zooming in on life in the seagrass beds, this Bay scallop is supporting a whole ecosystem on its shell. As consumers, we’re used to seeing small round scallops on a plate, but what is typically consumed is actually just the small muscle that holds the two parts of the shell together. A close-up look reveals color and complexity: many tiny iridescent blue eyes, and rows of sensing tentacles.
4. An Unexpected Place
Location: Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, 2025
This oyster reef in the Chesapeake Bay is teeming with life. This is similar to what would have been typical in the Bay Area over 100 years ago before overharvesting and dredging decimated oyster reefs in the San Francisco Bay, Chesapeake Bay, and New York City. Gathered in clumps, the oysters help to stabilize the seabed, filter the water, and provide crucial habitat for countless species of life to grow and thrive. Many areas are now working to create new oyster reefs in restoration efforts. With significant restoration efforts the bay water could be clear again all thanks to our oyster friends.
5. In The Tree Tops
Location: Santa Catalina Island, California, 2024
The bright orange Garibaldi is California’s state fish. As you step off a boat onto the docks at Santa Catalina Island, if you look down, you can see dozens of orange little blobs darting around. These fish build their nests in algae covered rocks in the kelp forests. They garden and defend the area surrounding their nests. A healthy kelp forest should house this incredible density of life, providing shelter for young animals and hunting grounds for sea otters, birds, giant seabass, and many more species that make up these incredible ecosystems. Sadly, kelp forests globally have been decimated by a combination of urchin overpopulation and warming ocean waters. Particularly in Northern California, almost 90% of kelp forests have been lost since 2014.
6. Sign of Hope
Location: Aquarium Reef, The Bahamas 2025
Many of the reefs in the Caribbean have been destroyed by a combination of ocean warming, coral bleaching, overfishing, and coastal development. This reef is a hidden gem, teaming with life including corals, sponges, and dozens of species of fish and invertebrates. Places like this are a sign of hope. If we do nothing it is estimated that coral reefs around the world will be gone by 2050 but if we act now we could see coral reefs in the Caribbean, and globally, thriving and healthier than we have ever seen them. Even in an area on the brink of collapse reefs like this can be a beacon for life that radiate out into the surrounding waters.
7. Hunting In The Dark
Location: Bali, Indonesia 2024
The largest migration on the planet takes place in our ocean, and it happens every night. A vertical migration of animals from the deep sea who swim up to the shallows in search of a meal, sometimes travelling miles vertically. This phenomenon is one of the least studied parts of the deep sea, known as the deep sounding layer. Here in the shallows these squid are hunting a small fish species called lemuru similar to sardines that we see off the Californian coast. Species like this are the base of the food chain for larger animals and bridge the gap between plankton and other small life forms that are too small for larger animals to eat.
8. Drifting in Marine Snow
Location: Floating above 7,400ft of water in the Gulf of Mexico, 2025
A moon jelly drifts through a cloud of marine snow, tiny organic particles sinking through the water like underwater snowfall. As the largest type of zooplankton, jellyfish move with the ocean’s currents. They lack brains, bones, and hearts, and are composed of about 95% water. Despite their simplicity, they’re a vital food source for sea turtles and mola mola. This image captures the base of the ocean’s food web: the plankton and organic matter that nourish life in the deep sea.
9. A Living Breathing Meadow
Location: St. Martin's Keys, Florida, 2025
This area is home to the longest continuous seagrass bed in the United States. Seagrass meadows play vital roles as habitat for marine life, an anchor for the seabed, and also as a significant carbon sink. During the sunniest part of the day, when photosynthesis really kicks into high gear, you can see thousands of small bubbles forming on the blades as the oxygen they produce is released into the water and rises to the surface above.
10. The Front Line Of Climate Change
Location : 81° N 48', 2025
At 81.48° N, the North Pole’s sea ice reaches its melting edge. In the past this area would have been a frozen barrier too thick for most vessels, this is the most northerly ice limit ever recorded at this time of year. On June 29, 2025, the ice had thinned to the 15% concentration contour that defines the “ice edge,” a fragile boundary where solid ice gives way to open water. Beneath the quiet blue, change is happening in real time: ice fracturing and retreating, waters warming, and the Arctic revealing the stark reality of a transforming ocean. Each ripple and melt channel tells a story of seasonal shifts, climate pressures, and the delicate balance of life at the top of the world—a moment frozen in time, yet moving faster than ever before.
11. Melt Tunnels
Location: Hornsund fjord, Svalbard, 2025
The melt ponds on this iceberg trace its restless journey—flipped, melted, and refrozen again and again. Each iceberg is as fleeting and individual as a cloud, always changing form. Beneath the surface, ancient blue ice tells a story written over millennia. Yet in the Arctic today, that story is vanishing fast; glaciers have receded so far that our ship’s maps still show them where they no longer are.