Donatella Bocchialini

 Born in Rome but lived in Milan. Since I was a young travel enthusiast, I have been able to intensify this passion for about ten years. I started going to the Maldives in 1985 and immediately fell in love with these wonderful islands. I followed diving courses until I became Dive Master. I combined my underwater passion with underwater photography, also winning an award in 1999  (participating in the third edition of the Sea in Milan (1st place in the exotic section)   and  another award in 2000 ( 1st place in the tropical environment section in the photographic contest “Maurizio Ogliari” organized by Monza Sub with the photo of a turtle entitled “Melancholy”).                                  &n bsp;                         &n bsp;                      Over time I have also differentiated my typology of travels, in which I broadened my photographic subjects: nature, landscape, wild animals and birds. I have participated in various photographic trips including to New Zealand, Hokkaido and Chile in the Atacama desert, where I stayed in the La Silla and Paranal Observatories to photograph the celestial vault.     &nbsp ;                         &nbsp ;                         &nbsp ;                         &nbsp ;I often participate in marine biology trips related to scientific projects such as manta ray sighting and recognition in the Maldives, turtle monitoring in the Red Sea (Marsa Alam) and whale shark sighting and recognition in Djibouti. I follow marine biology and birdwatching courses online.