After graduating from college, Kızılkaya took interest in commercial deep sea diving and underwater photography.
[1] He took his interests to the Pacific Ocean and spent many years exploring its waters while being a marine photographer and researcher in Indonesia.
[1] He went on to receive a master's degree in Coastal and Harbor engineering from Middle East Technical University.
Kızılkaya had hopes to transform Turkey's ravaged marine regions into more effective and developing conservation areas.
[6] Currently, he is the president and co-founder of an NGO named "Akdeniz Koruma Dernegi" ("Mediterranean Conservation Society" in Turkish).