Ben Cropp swapped spear gun for camera in 1962, after winning six Australian spear fishing titles and representing Australia at the world titles. His first films were on shark hunting, highly successful, and sold worldwide.

In 1964, Ben won the coveted world underwater Photographer of the Year, following in the footsteps of Hans Hass and Cousteau, and it was this year that launched him into the US market. He became the first Australian producer to sell to the giant US networks.

After making several specials for NBC and ABC, Ben released into syndication a 12-episode series The Coral Jungle, hosted by Leonard Nemoy. Another series of 10 specials around Australia, entitled The Rigged Coast, was sold worldwide.

Ben then made 15 one-hour films for The Disney Channel and one of them, The Young Adventurers was nominated for an Emmy Award. He has now filmed and produced over 100 wildlife adventure documentaries, all sold worldwide. Seven Network Australia has purchased some 60 of these films for their series World Around Us. Taurus Film has purchased 44 of these films for European distribution. Another 40 or so films were sold to Japanese networks.

Ben's one-hour documentaries are a mixture of underwater, wildlife, and adventure. His most successful was March of the Crabs. His most recent productions are on dugong, the deadly box jellyfish and sea snakes. Ben's two sons, Dean and Adam, feature in most of his films. They began as young boys, and are now skilful cameramen, assisting their father in most films.

Ben's home is at Port Douglas. He has discovered over a hundred shipwrecks. In 1977, Ben discovered the Pandora, Australia's most important shipwreck. In 1999 Ben was awarded an Order of Australia AM for his marine and coastal conservation work and promotion and awareness of the Australian marine environment as a documentary filmmaker. In 2000 Ben was inducted into the International Scuba Hall of Fame along with other diving legends: Jacques Yves Cousteau and Hans Hass.

Ben's photos and features have been published worldwide - in National Geographic magazine; on the cover of Time magazine; in Australian Geographic etc and on the front page of many newspapers. Ben has published 7 books that showcase his photography.