PHOTOGRAPHER, EDUCATOR, CONSERVATIONIST, HUMAN

Welcome to the digital home of Baja California Sur based underwater photographer Jay Clue. We’re currently in the process of rolling out the new website. Over the next few weeks we’ll be launching an online shop to purchase prints, a new travel & photography blog, as well as a project section to keep up to date with Jay’s ongoing projects and how you can get involved. In the meantime have a look around a feel free to give us a shout with any questions.

Finally getting a chance to go through shots from last months Cocos Island trip with @diveninjas! Love that crazy little island and can’t wait to head back for the next Cocos shark conservation trip in 2025!  Shot on the @sonyalpha Alpha 1 in a @nauticamhousings with @seaandseaimaging YS-D3 strobes
A big boop for International Whale Shark Day! Who’s been lucky enough to see one of these gentle giants before?
I have some really special news today fam! I’m super excited to announce that I have become an @onlyone ocean ambassador! 😮 Feeling incredibly grateful to be recognized alongside such a remarkable team of passionate humans working in all different mediums to protect our oceans and planet. Massive thanks to the legendary, @shawnheinrichs for inviting me to be part of this awesome team & platform.  If you’re not familiar with Only One, I highly recommend checking them out. They’re doing really amazing things for our planet and make it super easy for you to get involved and support critically important  projects around the world. Living up to their words, “There is only one way to save our planet. Together.” Only One creates  opportunities for you to take small, simple steps that when combined help us all work together to drive massive impact for our ocean planet. Go check out their website and let me know what you think Ninjas!
Monday vibes  Trying to keep it chill even though my to do list before I fly out on Thursday is currently 3.6 miles long. 🤣  Nurse shark cruising over the beautiful white sands of the Bahamas.  Captured while freediving using natural light with the @sonyalpha a7R IV in a @nauticamhousing at f9, 1/320s, ISO 100.
In late June I had the opportunity to head to the Florida Keys and get an inside look at the world’s largest coral restoration program, NOAA’s Mission: Iconic Reefs.  For those that know me, you know I’m not really a coral person. But as I began to research into the project I found myself completely awe struck and wanting to learn more every time I turned a new page.  From gigantic coral nurseries to being on the forefront of scientific research to AI driven coral growing robotics and remarkable bioengineering to bring these reefs back to their former glory. The project is beyond vast.  But after all my years in conservation, what really hit me the hardest was the heartfelt collaboration between so many passionate humans from different backgrounds and organizations working tirelessly together to try and change the world. It is one of the most inspiring things I’ve seen in a long time and really brought me a new sense of hope for our oceans.  Keep an eye on my stories and posts these next days to learn more about this incredible project and why it’s so critically important right now.  📷 story behind the shot:  @sarah_hamlyn_ of @motemarinelab and Kai of @noaasanctuaries working together on a monitoring project at Horseshoe Reef, Key Largo. This is one of the reefs that has recently been hit hard with a bleaching event. Check todays story to see what it looks like now, just a few short weeks after I took this photo.  Shot on the @sonyalpha Alpha 1 in a @nauticamhousings Massive thanks to Sony, Nauticam, and @backscattervideophoto for supporting my passion to tell these incredible stories.
It’s been a crazy few months on back to back projects, but finally have some downtime to catch up. I’m really stoked to finally share everything that’s been going on and why I’ve been so quiet online. Plus I have a bunch of really awesome news coming up! There’s so much stuff that I’ve spent the past few days driving myself crazy trying to figure out where to even begin. Then today I woke up and thought, forget all the noise, let’s just post a tiger shark! 😂 🦈  Tigers are one of my favorite sharks to dive with because of their big personality. They remind me of big silly dogs that just don’t realize their own size. What’s your favorite shark to dive with?  Shot on the @sonyalpha Alpha 1 using the Sony 16-35mm f2.8 GM in a @nauticamhousings at 16mm, f8, 1/400s, ISO 320 using natural light.
Heading home after an amazing couple weeks on the road. Can’t wait to finally be home for a little bit, but at the same time already missing my dolphin squad in Bimini and all the incredible humans I’ve met along the way. This weeks project in the Florida Keys was really special! I can’t wait to share all their stories with you ninjas!  Captured on the @sonyalpha Alpha 1 in a @nauticamhousings at ISO 320, f9, 1/400 at 28mm on the Sony 28-60mm f4 using Nauticam’s WACP-1  🧜‍♀️: @shelbysea_
Watching rain drops fall as the sun sets in the Florida Keys
Take a second to read todays post about the baby dolphin. I promise it will be worth the 10 seconds of your day and put a smile on your face.  Yesterday while out with the dolphins we spotted this very small young dolphin that was quite shy. We’ve affectionately nicknamed the calf, Nugget. Our guests being the curious ninjas they are, asked how old Nugget might be since she was much smaller than any other juveniles we had seen. So we contacted Kel, local dolphin researcher from @dolphincommunicationproject and all around amazing human. And wow, were we with her answer!  After sending her the photo, Kel tells us that Nugget could be around 3-4 months old (maybe a little older/younger as it’s hard to tell from just 1 photo). But the photo shows the young calf hiding under a very special adult named Romeo that is actually the 10th dolphin DCP ever added to their database back in 2001. 🤯  Romeo is a peculiar case. She’s believed to have been born in Bimini but her spots developed very different than all the others. This has lead researchers to believe she might actually be a hybrid species that’s a mix between Atlantic spotted and another species - such as pan tropical dolphins. Sadly, we also learned that Romeo has not been very lucky with giving birth to a calf, so if Nugget is hers it would be some really exciting and very special news. 🥳 😍  All this from 1 photo linking a curious guest with a passionate marine scientist. This is just one example of why connecting marine science, or more specifically scientists, with ocean tourism creates such a truly special experience. I want to give a big thank you to Kel and all the incredible researchers, biologists and scientists out there working tirelessly to better understand and protect the beautiful world around us.  Shot on the @sonyalpha Alpha 1 in a @nauticamhousings using the WACP-1 and Sony 28-60mm f4 lens. Image captured using natural light at 28mm, iso 100, f8, 1/250s.
Quick sneak peak from this weeks wild spotted dolphins expedition! Yesterday started off early with a bit of rain and wind, but we pushed forward and the skies opened up giving us an amazing day on the water with such great people. We found a big pod of curious spotted dolphins, but to our surprise 2 very young juvenile dolphins decided to split from the pod and play with us for a good hour before being rejoined by the pod. Even got to see a baby with her mom! Plus before the dolphins we went freediving with a bunch of reef sharks and even spotted a black nose! Can’t wait to see what today brings us.  Shot on the @sonyalpha Alpha 1 in a @nauticamhousings using their WACP-1 with the Sony 28-60mm f4. Captured at 28mm, f9, 1/320s, iso 320 using natural light.
Exploring the slot canyons of the Navajo Nation. These tight canyons were carved through the sandstone by rushing storm waters and wind giving them their beautiful curves and etched lines. The Navajo believed that these sacred canyons are a place where the spirit world and natural world intersect. Walking through them as the warm sun illuminates the layered colors and abstract shapes of the canyon makes you feel like you’ve entered a sacred site and understand why they were so special to the people of these lands.  Captured on the @sonyalpha Alpha 1 using a Sony 16-35mm f2..8 GM lens on  @sliktripods Carbon Fiber Pro CF-634 tripod at 16mm, f11, .4s, ISO 320.

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