He has taken some of the most important and impressive underwater images in a career that spans more than three decades. David Doubilet has set the standards others follow. He is a reporter, an artist, a story-teller and a powerful advocate. He has introduced the beauty of our oceans and the wonders that live in them to millions. This month, he publishes a 240-page retrospective of his greatest work: Water Light Time (pictured above). It is an inspiring and dramatic book, which takes underwater photography to new levels. Here is a selection of just a few of the images it contains.

Top: orange anthias and coral, the Temple, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, 1974
Above: a red velvet fish, Tasmania, Australia, 1995
Below: a goby on a giant clam mantle, Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, 1996

Above and below: Galápagos sea lions under a boat, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, 1996

Above: Silver cardinalfish and cherry blossom anthias, Suruga Bay, Japan, 1989
Below: Banggai cardinalfish, Sulawesi, Indonesia, 1995

Above left: a dolphin and clouds, Doubtful Sound, South Island, New Zealand, 1986 Above: the Devil’s Eye Spring joins the Santa Fe River, Florida, USA, 1992 Left: anthias and sea fans, Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, 1996 Below left: a king crab boat, Kodiak Island, Alaska, USA, 1978 Below: a Japanese moray eel in orange coral, Izu, Japan, 1984 Bottom: a young fisherman with a tiger shark, Isla Mujeres, Mexico, 1973