Brian Tong

Brian Tong is a Seattle-based expedition leader, dive professional, educator, and photographer specializing in polar, underwater, and remote environments.

Brian has spent more than 76 days working on expeditions across Greenland, South Georgia, and the Falkland Islands. He has organized and led multiple commercial diving expeditions in the Arctic and served as expedition dive leader and photographer on diving expeditions to South Georgia and the Falklands. His field work includes expedition planning, guest leadership, dive operations, environmental and safety assessment, underwater guiding, and photography and videography.

A PADI Divemaster since 2016, Brian has logged more than 2,000 scuba dives around the world, with extensive experience in cold-water, technical, cave, liveaboard, and expedition diving. He is also an AIDA and Molchanovs freediving instructor who has trained more than 50 students, a competitive freediver with dives beyond 90 meters, and a CSIA Level 2 ski instructor with backcountry and avalanche-training experience.

Brian is a native Mandarin-English bilingual speaker and enjoys translating complex science and field observations into engaging stories for guests and students. His areas of interest include marine life, oceanography, glaciers and ice, geology, polar environments, and underwater photography.

Outside the expedition world, Brian holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan and works in AI product development. He is also a private pilot with more than 200 flight hours.

As a photographer and filmmaker, Brian focuses on the intersection of ocean, wildlife, ice, and human exploration. He has been shooting underwater and expedition imagery since 2016 and has produced content for dive and boat operators around the world. His work has taken him across more than 80 countries, from tropical reefs and caves to the high latitudes of Greenland and the Southern Ocean, and videography was featured in Smithsonian Channel's 2016 television series Ocean Parks.