John Chardine

John is Canadian-born but spent the early years of his life in England. Walking to school through bluebell woods in springtime instilled a passion for nature, and birds in particular, which has lasted his whole life. Also in those early years he bought his first camera and has been making images ever since.

In 1967 he moved back to Canada with his family and eventually studied biology to the baccalaureate and masters levels, before getting married and travelling back to England to complete his Ph.D. After a brief stint of university teaching in Canada he started work with the Canadian Wildlife Service as a seabird biologist and research scientist. All-told he has spent the past four decades working on seabirds and in that time published hundreds of scientific papers and reports.

John is now retired but has continued working as a staff member aboard small expedition cruise ships, a second career which he started in 1992. Since then he has travelled to the Antarctic and the Arctic (and points in between) many times.

John is a passionate photographer and his photographs have appeared widely in books, magazines, permanent exhibitions and the like.