By Federico Facchin
People ask me all the time how someone from the Dolomites, surrounded by mountains, ends up spending their life with whales and the ocean.
Honestly? I’m still not entirely sure.
What I usually tell them is that I grew up by a lake. As a kid, I’d wander down to the water just to see what was going on, who was moving around and under the surface, what had changed since the day before. I didn’t know it at the time, but that curiosity never really left me. It just kept looking for bigger water bodies.
Then I moved to Trieste for my bachelor’s degree, right on the Adriatic. That’s when things really started to take off. I was snorkelling whenever I could, paying closer and closer attention to what was happening underwater, and it slowly stopped feeling like a hobby and started feeling like the thing I was meant to be doing. So I went on to study marine biology for my master’s.
During that time, I spent a year in Spain working with dolphins, belugas and other marine mammals. That’s really where it all began.
Bouncing Around the Globe
Before Sydney, I was properly bouncing around the globe.
A season in Iceland, then South Africa, Thailand, then Norway, then Australia, then back to Norway, then wherever the next opportunity happened to be. Mostly I was working with whales, as a whale-watching guide, photographer, skipper, snorkelling guide, whatever the day called for.
It sounds like a dream, and people used to message me all the time saying, “Your life is amazing, you’re so lucky.” And they were right. It was amazing.
But it’s not for everyone, and that’s the part people don’t always see. One week you’re in Norway at minus twenty, the next you’re in Polynesia at forty, unpacking your whole life and starting from scratch all over again. New country, new boat, new faces, new everything.
There were plenty of sacrifices hiding behind those photos. But I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. Every one of those seasons taught me something, and the dream I’d had as a kid by the lake was actually coming true.
The Choice to Settle Down
After years of moving, I started craving something a bit more permanent, a place to actually put down roots.
The PhD in Sydney was that opportunity, a three-and-a-half-year project. The research side is intense, but I still wanted to be out on the water with whales, so I started looking into local whale-watching operators and found Whale Tales.
The funny part is that their office turned out to be right next to one of my offices at the Sidney institute of Marine Science. I reached out to Rob and Katie, they invited me in for a chat, and since I was already in the building next door, it all just fell into place.
People often ask what keeps me motivated. Like I said, it really just comes down to passion.
I still get a genuine thrill from these experiences myself, but honestly the best part now is watching how other people react. That first time someone locks eyes with a whale, you can see something shift in them.
Whether it’s a tour here in Sydney or one of the week-long expeditions I run in Polynesia, taking small groups out to swim with whales, seeing that impact never gets old. I really believe that when you combine real experience with solid knowledge, you can change the way people think and behave.
A Different Kind of Marine Science
Here’s the twist, though: my PhD isn’t actually about whales anymore.
These days, I work on rocky reef ecology and restoration. We’ve brought some reefs back to life by removing the sea urchins that were mowing down all the algae, and now I get to watch what happens next. What grows back? Do the fish return? How does a whole ecosystem pick itself back up? There’s something quietly magical about seeing a bare patch of reef turn into a forest again.
It’s a fair jump from working with marine mammals, but it’s still the ocean, and there’s a lot of diving involved, which suits me just fine.
Still Learning
One thing I’m genuinely excited about this season is watching the whale numbers.
I’ve worked in a fair few corners of the world, and Sydney is honestly one of the best places I’ve ever seen for whales. The sheer number that comes through still amazes me.
People who’ve been here longer than me reckon there are more every single year, and I can’t wait to see if that turns out to be true. After all this time around them, I still find it hard not to smile every time a blow appears on the horizon.
Just Seeing Where It Goes
I’ve still got a couple of years left on the PhD, so at least I know what the near future looks like.
After that? Honestly, no idea, and I’ve made peace with that.
I’ve spent so many years living from one three-month contract to the next that having three whole years ahead of me feels like pure luxury. There’s no rush to figure out the rest.
For now, I’m happy exactly where I am: doing the research, spending my days on the water, and sharing all of it with people who love the ocean as much as I do.
And really, that’s more than enough of a plan for me.
Learn more about Fede!
www.federicofacchin.com
Instagram – @oceanic.fede
