Canon Sd 700

Around the Park: Beauty, 'wonders of the deep'

Mark's artistically composed and stunningly colorful photos were taken while exploring coral reefs off the coasts of Florida, North Carolina, California, Hawaii, Honduras, Mexico and French Polynesia.

From the striking image of a turquoise and gold four-eye butterfly fish taken off Roatan, Honduras, to the brilliant purple and orange Spanish shawl snapped in San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park in California, the works have a powerful impact. Particularly interesting were shots of flower-like sea urchins devouring kelp off Coronado Islands in Mexico, a California sea hare that looks just like a bunny, and a tube-dwelling anemone resembling a mushroom taken inside the shipwrecked Ruby-E off the San Diego coastline.

According to Mark's older brother John, a physicist who traveled from New York to attend the exhibit, the Royer family always enjoyed the water and boating. Still, he was amazed by his youngest sibling's early interest in the oceans and marine ecology.

"We took Mark snorkeling on a trip to Hawaii when he was 5 years old, and he loved it so much, he didn't want to come out of the water," John said.

The youngster's interest was further ignited by family trips to Ocean City and bi-monthly visits to the National Aquarium in Baltimore with his grandparents, Eve and Bob Gustafson. He became SCUBA certified at age 13, competed with the SPY Swim Team for several seasons, and volunteered as an exhibit guide at the National Aquarium while he was a high school junior.

Mark spent the past four years at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where he obtained his bachelor of science degree in marine biology, and spent summers working with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego. He luckily was able to camp out with his middle brother, Jim, a University of San Diego graduate student in chemistry.

Trips to coral reefs throughout the world with UNCW and Scripps gave Mark ample opportunities to photograph the rarest underwater specimens using his Canon PowerShot SD700 IS camera in an underwater housing.

A lifelong member of Woods Church, the artist deeply appreciated the chance to share his passion for marine life with the Severna Park community.

"Informing people about the waters and the issues that face us is important. If my photographs promote an interest in ecological stewardship, I'm truly grateful," Mark said. "My life's ambition is to educate people about the oceans - the undersea world on which we're so dependent.