Born and raised in S?o Paulo, Brazil, Michael has been an avid conservationist since childhood. Fishing trips to the Amazon and abroad during his formative years whetted his appetite for exploration. At age eighteen, he left Brazil for the U.S. to attend university and to begin his professional career. In 1991, he moved to South Florida. With the Gulf Stream at his doorstep, he traded his fishing rod for an underwater camera and began photographing the area's rich marine life ? a pastime that soon became a passion and an occupation. For the last 12 years, he has traveled extensively as a photographer and writer, concentrating on sealife and environmental issues.

His work, widely published, aims to educate and communicate to others the beauty and fragility of the oceans ? and the urgent need to protect them.