Dr. Marcelo Flores

In the early 1980s, in a Chile where access to nature programs was limited, Sundays held something special: The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. That brief, almost ritual moment opened a window into a vast and unfamiliar planet. Together with long holidays spent by the sea, it planted a deep curiosity that would eventually become a vocation.

Studying marine biology led me to diving, and with my first immersion I understood there was no turning back. Descending beneath the surface meant entering a silent, complex, and fragile world—one that continues to astonish me to this day. Along my academic path, I was fortunate to learn from exceptional researchers, not only for their scientific rigor, but for their values, ethics, and way of seeing the world.

I have always believed that luck is where preparation meets opportunity, and that convergence allowed me to conduct research in remote and little-known places such as the fjords of Chilean Patagonia, Rapa Nui, and Antarctica. Each of these places reinforced the same certainty: we are not owners of these landscapes; we are merely visitors.

Alongside science and guiding, photography has become a powerful way to extend the field beyond these remote regions. As an amateur photographer, I take on the challenge of documenting close encounters with charismatic species such as penguins, albatrosses, whales, dolphins, and pumas, among many others, always guided by respect and restraint. The goal is not simply to create images, but to use them as a bridge—helping those who cannot visit these distant places to understand their beauty, vulnerability, and the urgency of protecting them.

Today, as a polar guide, my purpose is to share these experiences and to remind others that the polar regions—like many ecosystems across the planet—are under threat and are essential to our survival. In places such as Svalbard or Antarctica, the lesson is clear: it is not about us, but about pausing, feeling wonder, and taking responsibility for protecting what still remains intact.