David Doubilet is widely acclaimed as the world's leading underwater photographer for his groundbreaking practice that fuses cutting-edge technology and art. First published by National Geographic in 1972, he has contributed to the magazine regularly ever since. Reporting from around the world, he captures ground-breaking and iconic images, creating a visual voice for the world's oceans.

Kathy Moran is National Geographic magazine's Deputy Director of Photography. As the magazine's first senior editor for natural history projects, Moran has been producing projects about terrestrial and underwater ecosystems for the magazine since 1990. She is a founding member of the International League of Conservation Photographers and has edited numerous books for ILCP photographers published with the University of Chicago Press.

Kathryn D. Sullivan is an American geologist and a former NASA astronaut. A crew member on three Space Shuttle missions, she became the first American woman to walk in space on 11 October 1984. On 7 June 2020, she became the first woman to dive to the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Earth's oceans. From 2014 to 2017, she served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.