Richard Fitzpatrick ACS is an Emmy winning cinematographer and Professorial Research Fellow at James Cook University where he specialises in sharks.

He has shot more than 150 films for clients such as the BBC, National Geographic and Discovery Channel and is renowned for filming unusual complex behavioral sequences – (using 3D, High Speed, Time Lapse, Motion Control, Drone and Underwater) many never seen before.  

Extreme environments are no problem with Richard having filmed all over the world from the deserts of outback Australia to the jungles of the Amazon to snow-covered Alaska. With over 15,000 hours underwater he has filmed in the crystal-clear coral gardens of the Great Barrier Reef, the murky waters of the Amazon, and everything in-between. In the process he has won numerous international awards. Richard started out as a Marine biologist, learning how to work with sharks in public aquariums around the world, including: Oceanworld – Manly, Maui Ocean Centre – Hawaii and at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Reef HQ in Townsville. 

Currently based at James Cook University in Cairns, Richard, and his team at BIOPIXEL, manage one of the largest marine stock vision libraries and dedicated biological filming studios in the world. Many of the complex behavioral sequences for shows such as ‘Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef’ , ‘Welcome to Earth with Will Smith’ and James Cameron’s – ‘Supernatural’ series, were filmed in Biopixel’s Aquarium studio at JCU, Cairns Campus. 

Richard’s current research through the BIOPIXEL OCEANS FOUNDATION has contributed to over 80 scientific publications. This research includes a scientific response to shark bites off the Queensland coast for the State Government – satellite tagging and tracking Tiger sharks, Bull sharks and other Reef sharks along the Great Barrier Reef. The foundation has also had recent unprecedented success with a new discovery, identification and tracking of under-researched Megafauna, (Whale shark, Manta, and Omura Whale) aggregations in the Far North of the Great Barrier Reef. 

Stories of his underwater adventures and career highlights are catalogued in the University of NSW publication ‘Shark Tracker’ – The Confessions of an Underwater Cameraman’