As a child I donned my first mask and snorkel at Lulworth Cove in Dorset and was stunned by the abundance and diversity of marine life that was all around me but hidden from the naked eye.

For over 15 years I have been working in marine conservation; filming marine life, working as a marine warden with the Dorset Wildlife Trust and recording marine life with Seasearch.

However, one problem has always thwarted me. When scuba diving with an underwater video camera, I resemble a seal that sounds like Darth Vader with a bad cold which frightens the marine life. In addition, diving can be cumbersome. There is so much kit to take down and you are time and depth limited so it all becomes overly complex. What I realised a lot of people need, is a non-invasive way to film marine life.

Whilst working with the BBC on its Beach Live Jurassic Coast Revealed, it gave me the chance to trial and prove an idea I’ve been working on; using my experience as a marine videographer & sub-sea equipment designer, to find a better way to monitor the marine life around our coasts.

I created a system with two high definition underwater surveillance cameras that are capable of filming at a depth of up to 45 metres. They both have downward facing tripods and connect to a surface WiFi buoy.

Using a portable computer, you can view what the camera is seeing, live. If there is something you want to save, then you just press the record button and it is stored locally. As the cameras are Pan, Tilt and Zoom, they can be manoeuvred without disturbing the marine life so that you see it how it behaves in its natural environment.

MarineSee has developed the prototype into a professional suite of equipment to help other marine videographers capture marine life without being invasive.