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I’m Maya. I’m a biologist who became a wildlife photographer, and this is where I write the parts that don’t fit in a photograph.

Most of what you see online from people like me is the frame that worked. What I want to write here is the rest: the four hours of nothing before it, the moment I got it wrong, and what the animal was actually doing: the behaviour, the biology, the reason it happened at all. I read about these species for years before I ever saw them. Then I saw them and was still genuinely surprised by them, you will too.

Some of the places I work: the Arctic, Antarctica, Amazon, Galapagos and the open ocean in Baja and South Africa. I lead small expeditions to a few of them each year.

What you'll get, free, every week: a story from the field with the photographs that came out of it, and the biology behind what happened.

What I'll ask for occasionally: nothing you have to say yes to. Everything here stays free. If you want to support the work, there's a founding tier below, and it funds most of the trips these stories come from.

If you're new: the fastest way to know whether you'll like it here is to read:

The color that broke the green ✍🏽

Tell me in the comments where you’re reading from, and whether there’s an animal you’ve always wanted to see in the wild. I read all of them :)

For the wild,

Maya

FOUNDING MEMBERS

Everything here stays free. Always.

But these stories cost something to make: weeks in the water, permits, boats, flights to places with no roads. Founding members cover what makes most of this stories possible.

If you join:

• Wild Hour: live with me the first Thursday of every month

• First access and a discount on my expeditions, before they’re announced anywhere

• Your name on the trip posts, if you want it there

$180/year. If it’s not the right time for you, reading and replying is genuinely enough :)

Become a Founding Member