Michel Lippitsch was born in Alsace, France on February 24, 1966 and grew up in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. He trained as a chef in France and then worked in Michelin three star restaurants in Berne, Verbier and Zurich, Switzerland as well as in London. He later moved to Bermuda where he realized he wanted to pursue a life with the sea and the study of dolphins. He soon became a PADI dive instructor and continued to teach diving in Miami, Florida while also working as a photographer, tour guide and artist.
In 1995, when the RV Heraclitus stopped in Miami at the beginning of the 1995 – 2000 Coral Reef Expedition, Michel sold all his worldly goods and hopped on board to spend the next six years sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, through the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and through South East Asia. In Bali, he assumed the position of Expedition Leader for PCRF's 2000 to 2010 Coral Reef Expedition.
Currently, Michel is the Expedition Leader on board the SV Infinity where he pursues his passion for cetaceans, his fascination with the cultures of the world and his obsession with diving. He videos and photographs all aspects of the ship's life, sea life and sea people in his continued commitment to exploring and understanding the world's oceans.
