Yankee Whale Watching Providing ocean adventures since 1944

Meet our onboard naturalist - Steve Morello

Yankee Fleet is excited to introduce Steve Morello to their research staff for 2011. He has an amazing background and is excited to share his knowledge with us at Yankee Fleet as well as our whale watch participants. Steve has been guiding wildlife adventures for more than twenty years. His career in wildlife started doing research on whales in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He soon found that guiding on local whale watching boats brought him to his passion, of bringing people to see wildlife and teaching them about the wonders of nature. For the next fifteen years he lead whale watching tours, became an instructor at the National Audubon's Society Audubon Camps in Maine, and was the Director of Education at West Quoddy Marine Biological Research Station in Maine.

In 1989 he was one of the founders of Natural Habitat Adventures. As Field Director for Nat Hab, Steve was responsible for the creation of their guide-training program and was the driving force behind Natural Habitat's policies in the destinations they traveled to. Steve also initiated the partnership between Natural Habitat and World Wildlife Fund. In 2004 Steve decided that he wanted to play a more active role in sustainable tourism, and to operate tours that were unique and made partners of the local people in the places he traveled to. He founded Green Planet Expeditions as a sister company to Mondo Verde Expeditions, and concentrated on custom photo tours, where his philosophy of "Leaving More Than Footprints" was a main component of his programs. During this time, Steve participated in and developed guide training programs in Peru, Tanzania, and the United States.

Now Green Planet and Mondo Verde expeditions are one entity and along with the Mondo Verde Team, Steve continues his development of responsible travel programs around the world.

Steve is one of the worlds most traveled and experienced guides, with a list of destinations he has visited that reads like a world atlas. His abilities have made him a guide of choice for such prestigious organizations as American Museum of Natural History, National Wildlife federation, World Wildlife Fund, and the Smithsonian Museum.

Well known as a professional wildlife photographer, Steve's work has appeared in National Geographic, International Wildlife, The New York Times and Outdoor Photographer as well as numerous other magazines, books and calendars. Steve is a major contributor to the photo collection of the World Wildlife Fund and frequently works with scientists around the world documenting their research and gaining first-hand knowledge of the animals and ecosystems he photographs. Author of the book "The Traveling Nature Photographer" Steve also teaches photo workshops privately at his home in Massachusetts, and on our Photo-Tours to destinations around the world.

On a seperate note Steve has put together a mini photo workshop that will be available on Tuesday afternoon whale watches. We will meet at the restaurant Latitude 43 in the comfort of their outdoor seating area, right next to the Yankee Freedom. Steve will discuss the tricks of photographing on a boat. Compsition, exposure, and how to ell a story with your images are just a few of the topics we will discuss. We will learn how to choose the right lens, capture the action that we often encounter out on our whale watches and also learn some of the basics of digitial photography, like how to use your histogram. Steve has photographed whales all over the world and he will go over his choice of equipment for photographing whales and answer any of your questions you may have about wildlife photography. Our mini photo workshop will be sure to enhance your photographic endeavors and help you get the most out of documenting your adventure.