Feature by: Jo Baker
Freediving Western Australia’s wildest blue frontiers with the Shipwreck Hunters for Disney + or still as a rock filming baby turtles and penguins, Anouska (Nush) Freedman is forever finding awe in nature’s great and small, everyday and otherworldly.
Dreamer Nush Freedman
She’s an underwater and wildlife cinematographer, photographer, producer and presenter who instinctively knows how to give Mother Nature her best close-up in every environment.
On the set of Shipwreck Hunters, she’s a real-life mermaid luring the captain and crew to pause the chase, get back in the water, and take a moment with the incredible marine life they encounter.
“Shipwrecks are like wildlife magnets. Diving beneath the surface, you're surprised by unique animals and history together. It’s magical,” says Nush, whose creative lens was sharply focused under the water from an early age.
Omeo Wreck, Coogee
Her formative years in Exmouth, splashing around in the crystal shallows of Ningaloo Marine Park (Nyinggulu), gave her a window to something more mesmerising than anything she could watch on a screen – the passing parade of sea life on the world’s largest fringing coral reef.
“You can just step into the water, and you're amongst incredible wildlife,” Nush smiles as she recalls her first encounter with her marine muse.
“The first time I saw a manta ray, I literally swam off the beach and was greeted by this beautiful, graceful giant of the ocean. Manta rays are one of the smartest creatures in the ocean. They’ve got the biggest brain-to-body ratio of any fish, so you really feel a connection when you swim with these beautiful animals as they dance gracefully in the water.”
Thorny devil (Moloch horridus)
As a young dreamer, she found herself equally drawn to the near-opposite of Ningaloo’s electric blue lagoons – the rugged-red canyonlands of Cape Range National Park. Here, Nush would sit entranced by rock wallabies hopping like mountain goats along high ledges and the quirky, jerky walk of thorny devils – the punk rockers of the desert.
Since those early adventures, Nush has discovered her home state is full of wonderment at every turn. Whether it's swimming with a tiny little fish or a gentle giant like a whale shark; exchanging smiles with the world’s happiest animal, the quokkas of Rottnest Island; spotting the brilliant scarlet flashes of red-tailed black cockatoos foraging in the shade of Boranup Forest; or watching humpback whales tail-sailing and breaching from her favourite sandy bay hideaway on Dirk Hartog Island.
“One of my favourite things is to sit in an environment and just watch what an animal's doing. I've always been really obsessed with it. Those moments make you stop and take in what you're looking at and be present,” says Nush.
Nush swimming amongst a school of fish on the Ningaloo Reef
It’s a curiosity she swears she’ll never lose. And even after countless hikes, swims, snorkels and dives in Western Australia’s oceans and wild places, it still gives her goosebumps.
“You never know what you're going to see. That’s what is so special about it. Every day is a huge surprise.”
But she’s a dreamer whose passion goes beyond capturing the awe of raw beauty. With every frame, she deepens the love for Western Australia’s wild spirit and wondrous watery worlds, and shines a light on their fragility, inspiring nature lovers to stand up and protect them.
“We're so lucky to have the biodiversity of marine life here. It's just an incredible place that you can get so close to nature. It’s unlike anywhere else.”
Published in January 2026.