Ken Kiefer
Ken Kiefer is a professional underwater photographer based out of Houston, Texas. He mainly photographs large animals, including humans, with the goal of bringing awareness and appreciation for the amazing underwater realm. As a huge shark advocate, he is always searching for ways to enlighten the general public with the truth about sharks vs the media hype.
He became a PADI dive instructor in 1994, but found his love of diving embodied more with imagery than with teaching.
He is a member of the exclusive Ocean Artists Society, and firmly believes in using art to bring awareness to the need to preserve our natural world.
He is passionate about photographing anything and everything under the water: ocean critters, swim teams, fitness models, children, competition divers, etc.
Ken was an EMT and Dive Instructor and will act as a safety diver.
Kimber Kiefer
Kimber was born in Michigan but grew up a Texan. She loves travel & adventure: exploring the ocean, underwater modeling, skydiving & anything fun and challenging.
She and her husband Ken work as a team to create underwater art. They have a passion for everything underwater and use it as a platform to educate and share their experiences with others.
Kimber is a PADI Divemaster and has been diving for over 20 years. She is a major shark advocate and loves the opportunity to educate and help others understand sharks and their importance in keeping the oceans healthy & balanced.
She will be using her UW videographer & photographer skills to assist with videos, capture behind the scenes and also act as safety diver as needed for our project.
Paul de Gelder
Paul chased adventure wherever he could find it, from his wild ride as a hoodlum teen and his drug-and-alcohol fueled stint working in a strip club to hauling his way up to the elite echelons of the defense forces as an Army Paratrooper and then Navy Clearance Diver. But trouble hunted him down in the form of a brutal shark attack in February 2009. Paul lost two limbs, and his career as a daredevil Diver was flung into jeopardy.
He lost his arm and leg from a Bull shark attack while doing counter terrorism exercises in Sydney. That did not stop him from diving or being a shark advocate and supporting the protection of sharks.
Mermaid Linden Wolbert
With a BA in Film and Science from Emerson College in Boston, Linden shares the life aquatic with others via underwater wildlife documentary films and live performances. Mermaid Minute, her educational ocean web series, “edutains” young viewers about an array of animals and ocean life.
Mermaid Linden and her ocean related work have been featured on Bloomberg Businessweek, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Fortune, Fast Company, Discovery Channel, Yahoo! ABC's 20/20, The NBC Today Show, Univision, Australia Today on NINE, Inside Edition, DNA of India, AOL Careers, MAXIM magazine, The UK Daily Mail, PADI Undersea Journal, MSN, Latin Times and Entertainment Weekly among others in over 30 countries.
PADI Master Scuba Diver, freediver and full-time mermaid at her company, Mermaids in Motion, Linden is also an AIDA Freediving Judge since 2006. Her personal best static breath hold is 5 minutes, and depth PB is 35 meters (115 feet) down and back on a single breath.
Linden is on the Board of Directors of Reef Check Worldwide, which she learned of a decade ago through her favorite underwater documentary, Coral Reef Adventure.
Professor Ji Hun Chung
He graduated from Northern Michigan University, BS, then from Boston University, MS, and has a Ph.D. from Hong-ik University.
Currently he is Professor in the Media Department at Seoul Institute of the Arts. Working on various documentaries as a producer and a director: "Conditions for Happiness", broadcasted in National Geographic Korea and "Don't Laugh at Me", broadcasted on TV Chosun and Arirang TV.
Nick Lebeouf
Co-founder and Owner of SD Expeditions. Nick has many years of experience leading outdoor trips with an acute sense of safety and professionalism. He worked as an EMT for the California Department of Forestry before he worked as an EMT on the Kings River guiding white water rafting trips for 5 years. It wasn’t until he moved to San Diego in 2007 when he became SCUBA certified and a PADI Divemaster to lead Great White Shark Expeditions to Isla Guadalupe from 2007 until 2013. Since the launch of SD Expeditions, Nick has been featured on SharkWeek 2014 and 2015, and SD Expeditions has been hired by BBC, 60 Minutes, National Geographic Wild, and other local broadcasts in need of Nick’s knowledge of the southern California Pacific region.
He will take us all on the second part of the expedition with Blue and Mako sharks in San Diego after we return from Mexico.