19 Mar Feature Article in 1926 Magazine
JUST OFFSHORE OF THE BOCA RATON is a whole magical world of shipwrecks and reefs, tropical fish and sea turtles. Boca Raton photographer Ben Hicks has made a life chronicling that world, publishing an image in National Geographic, “Logger-head Sea Turtle, Florida” in 2012. In the photograph, taken just below the shallow, aquamarine waters off our shoreline, the tiny hatchling swims toward the surface of a gently breaking wave. The image went viral, and Hicks was established.
These days Hicks is also an environmentalist, spurred by his passion for documenting sea turtles. He won an Emmy for his cinematography on the PBS documentary “Troubled Waters: A Turtle’s Tale,” and was part of the Emmy-winning team behind “We Are All Plastic People Now,” a PBS doc from 2023.The following photo essay is a sampling of Hicks’ work, snapshots of the world beneath the water just offshore of The Boca Raton.
“We live in an area very close to the Gulf Stream,” he says “It is so close to our coast that it keeps a lot of nutrients running through our waters. That is what brings up our sea life, especially from Palm Beach and Singer Island down to Boca. You have all different kinds of species that visit our coast. Obviously sea turtles are very prevalent; a lot of nesting happens. But other stuff too; last summer I shot manta rays. There are also areas where there are seahorses and octopi- nowhere else in North America, The clarity of the water is the most important thing: The Gulf Stream keeps very deep blues and greens. That’s what keeps me here.”