For people who live on or near the coast, or for those of us fortunate enough to make it our work place, the ocean is a beautiful, ever-changing mosaic of color, energy, and life. We sometimes take it for granted, knowing that it will always be there despite her many moods. For others it is a beautiful place to visit, enjoy the beach on a sunny day, find relief from the inland heat, or stand in the shallows and scan the vast expanse of it all, wondering what one might see if he or she were to just keep looking. A beautiful schooner passes by under full sail and you wish you were aboard her. A seal pops his head up for a brief moment just beyond the surf line and looks right at you. A little girl spots a whale spout way offshore and runs to tell her mother. These are special moments for many people which bond them to the sea forever. There is another perspective, however, one within reach but rarely seen and never before documented.

Gulf of Maine Productions is a union of commercial fishermen and a spotter pilot armed with a camera working together to document photographically the multitude of life and natural phenomena that lay just offshore. Our purpose is twofold. First, we will attempt to connect people to the sea through high quality aerial photographs of whales, dolphin, game fish, bait species, seals, sharks, tide rips, fog formations, and panoramic views of the offshore world. We will present these images to you in photo galleries within the website and offer high quality, frameable prints for sale. We will also bring this perspective to your group, school, or organization in the form of digital slide presentations as a part of our educational outreach program.

In addition, we will bring you up to date news and photographs of our long-standing, cooperative research programs and the results thereof, most notably our efforts to tag and track free-swimming fish and the methodology used for that purpose. We will monitor and inform you of events and conditions offshore and provide you with access to sea surface temperatures through satellite imagery, tidal currents and timetables, and marine forecasts. We will also link you to other researchers with whom we work in pursuit of a common goal, to preserve and protect our offshore environment and its inhabitants.

We are available for speaking engagements, which include a detailed slideshow presentation of the photography accompanied by a series of narrative stories and tales about our experience taking these photos. This presentation is ideal for classrooms and public education facilities. Please contact Christian Valle at 508-548-1450 ext. 11 for more information.

By supporting Gulf of Maine Productions you are contributing to our ongoing research efforts and helping to preserve a traditional way of life, that of the small commercial fisherman.