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César A. Cárdenas is from the city of Punta Arenas in Chilean Patagonia. He is a marine biologist with a Masters in Natural Resources from the University of Magallanes. He has been developing several studies about diversity and distribution of benthic organisms of rocky reefs at the Magellan fjords and channels. During 2009 he will start his PhD in marine biology at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, studying sponge ecology of shallow subtidal rocky reefs.

César is also a professional diver and underwater photographer, and as such he has taken part in a range of scientific and photographic expeditions in such remote places as Cape Horn, the Magellan Strait, Tierra del Fuego, the Beagle Channel and Antarctica. César has contributed to various field guides and publications for foundations such as Oceana, Huinay and for the Francisco Coloane Marine Protected Area.

Since the beginning of his scientific career, César has been interested in underwater photography as a scientific tool for studying the biodiversity and ecology of life on the sea floor. He is also interested in using photography for education, so people in the local community can better understand the invaluable natural heritage that surrounds them. The combination of his professional and personal interests, combined with having the good fortune to live in the south of Chile, has allowed him to record with his lens, and identify with his scientific knowledge, the distinct marine organisms of the Magellan region and Antarctica