I lived at sea for 10 years. I co-owned and ran a global kitesurfing expedition company. We would go around the world on a 60ft catamaran, following the trade winds, kitesurfing, surfing and paragliding in remote places. One night I watched a Hollywood movie called The Fall, which featured a section where an elephant was swimming in blue tropical water. I didn’t know if that was right or wrong in Hollywood. But I was like, “Dude, if that exists, I’d love to photograph it.”

I searched the internet and found the elephant in the movie to live in the Andaman Islands, an Indian territory in the Bay of Bengal. When we sailed into the capital, Port Blair, a few months later in 2010, I decided to go down and try to find this elephant. I found Rajan on Havelock Island (now Swaraj) and spent two weeks with him, learning about his amazing story.

Rajan was brought to the Andamans with nine other elephants in the 1970s to help bring down the islands. They needed a way to transport the cut trees to the barges right next to the islands, so the elephants were forced to learn to swim in the ocean. Elephants like fresh water but they don’t like salt water because the salt stings their eyes and dries out their skin. The elephants dragged the cut giant badak trees and swam them to the barges. Once an island was exploited, the elephants had to swim to the next island. They would swim for miles at times, which was mind-blowing: a group of 10 elephants swimming in the open sea.

When logging was banned in 2002, Rajan was unemployed. He was the last elephant of the group to survive and lived his days on Havelock Island until his death in 2016. When I found him he was around 60 years old, living in retirement with Nazroo, his keeper, who in India is called a mahout.

Every morning Rajan went to the jungle or walked to the beach. He would go swimming when he wanted to. He seemed to have adapted to swimming in salt water and even enjoying it. I really felt like he was having fun swimming in the ocean. I think it stands out in this picture. A lot of people tell me he seems to be smiling.

Sometimes he would wade in the water a bit and decide not to swim, and other times he would submerge completely and swim in deeper water, like someone swimming laps in a pool. He totally immersed himself and used his trunk like a snorkel which was so cool.

It’s surreal to swim with an elephant, especially in tropical blue waters. I remember thinking, “Wow, it’s crazy that I’m here witnessing this. Often, Rajan was in shallower areas. But I was really hoping to get a photo of him swimming weightless in deeper water, his legs flapping freely, in a doggy paddle motion. It was difficult because I always had to try to stay away from him and his movements were unpredictable making it hard to anticipate where he was going to swim. It all depended on Rajan’s mood. The day I took this photo I was with him on one of his long swims and used a weight belt to snorkel to get the angle I wanted.

by Rajan mahout was always nearby. He felt so comfortable with Nazroo and didn’t want to be far from him. Original sound mahout, who was the one who had done all the brutal training, had died of a cobra bite, and Nazroo arrived after that. I worked on the human-elephant conflict for a few years in Asia and I did stories about mahouts So in India, I saw different levels of the relationship between humans and elephants, but I never saw a connection as strong as that of Rajan and Nazroo. It was like watching a mother and her child – a caring and loving relationship.

Spending time with Rajan has been an amazing experience. Rajan was possibly the last elephant swimming in the ocean that we have ever seen, which makes the image even more poignant. As slaughter bans have increased, the use of elephants for slaughter has declined dramatically. I think this is still happening in some Asian countries, but it is a practice that is thankfully fading away.

I have had incredible experiences as a photographer. I think it’s important to share these experiences to encourage and inspire people to step out of their comfort zone and go on their own adventures. This not only enriches their own life, but strengthens their relationship with nature and the environment, which means that they will be more inclined to protect them. Photography can make a real difference in people’s lives.

Jody MacDonald CV

Born: Ottawa, Canada, 1978.
Qualified: Self-taught.
Influences: Steve McCurry, Ami Vitale, George Steinmetz.
High point: “Never give up my passion for photography.
Low point: “I was kicked in the face by a camel in Sudan two months ago.
Superior council: “Always try to improve your art and don’t give up.”

Jody MacDonald is one of 100 photographers supporting Vital Impacts, a fundraiser for the sale of international prints through December 31 created by photographer Ami Vitale and journalist Eileen Mignoni to raise funds for Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots and Shoots, Big Life Foundation, Great Plains Conservation’s Project Ranger, and SeaLegacy. See impactsvital.org and @ vital.impacts. For more on Jody, see jodymacdonaldphotography.com/ and @jodymacdonaldphoto