Ocean Art Contest 2023: 30 Images Showcasing Never-Before-Seen Behaviors, Captivating Blackwater Scenes And More

East Coast of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

"I let my wife choose our last dive of the trip, either an unguided shore dive or a boat dive. Although she loves wide angle sites from the boat, she picked the shore dive. It was because the house reef was on fire! Mimics and wonderpus were so common we stopped pointing them out. There was an explosion of ghost pipefish of varies types. So many different types of frogfish. I saw so many hairy frogfish, I stopped taking pictures of them. I was diving the house reef before sunrise and at night without my wife and she surprisingly, had not seen a hairy the entire trip. This last dive was a quest for us to find her a hairy. The dive did not disappoint. We saw so many different types of cephalopods including a, yawn, mimic. We came across a newly laid patch of squid eggs which strangely, had a seahorse attached. While shooting this unusual combination, a school of razorfish photobombed the picture. We were at the end of the dive when I spotted something that did not make sense. Why was a seahorse in the water column? I could not believe my eyes at what happened next. The seahorse convulsed and out came hundreds of babies. Shooting is always my top priority but I wanted my wife to experience this moment with me so I banged my tank with my muck stick to get her attention and missed the opportunity to fire off a couple of shots. I was able to get into position and got three shots at the male seahorse’s next release. My wife was now at my side and the current took the baby seahorses right next to her mask. There was one more release with just few more babies than the seahorse dropped to the ocean floor exhausted. I was so happy my wife was able to experience this once in a lifetime encounter with me. But we never found her a hairy frogfish."

Noli, Ligurian Sea, Italy

"This photo was taken in June 2023 at the dive site: "Sabbione delle Meraviglie" in front of Noli in the Ligurian Sea. I immediately identified this cephalopod by its characteristic spotted coat. I have met these animals other times, but they usually tend to run away, however the defense behavior of this subject was different, in fact the animal opened its tentacles to appear more threatening by rising from the seabed with 2 tentacles and widening the other 6."

Tulamben, Indonesia

"Costasiella kuroshimae is one of the famous nudibranchs in Tulamben. It has a tiny cute face and beautiful eggs in a perfect circle. I spent two dives waiting for it to creep up to its eggs. It looked like it was defending eggs. If it was, it must be the cutest guardian of all nudibranchs."

Lembeh Strait, Indonesia

"I have photographed pygmy sea horses for many years, there are a few challenges to shooting them, first the eye contact. To have a relaxed specimen making double eye contact with the camera is very rare, secondly the polyps of the coral are usually closed. In order to get the polyps out I had to be the first person on this sea fan in the morning, I already knew this was a playful specimen from the day before so requested to dive the site at dawn when the polyps were out. And this guy is also pregnant and about to burst, so this trifecta of eye contact, polyps out and pregnant male made it the shot I have been after for many years. There was minimal editing, a little contrast, a slight rotation and very minimal crop were all that was needed, the subject speaks for itself."

Norris Rocks, Hornby Island, Canada

"As I immersed myself in the underwater world at Norris Rocks, I took my time to observe and try to understand the Steller sea lions aiming to capture more meaningful images. This image was captured when a beautiful sea lion swam up to me and stared tenderly into my eyes melting my heart. Steller sea lions are listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. With this image I hope to ignite a desire within people to protect these extraordinary beings and their ocean home."

Crystal River, Florida, USA

"During the chilly winter months in northern Florida, West Indian manatees congregate in the crystal-clear natural spring waters to keep warm. Temperatures in the surrounding rivers can drop dangerously low so the aquifers act as safe havens where they can rest and raise their young. Manatee mums nurse their calves from just beneath their armpits until they are strong enough to strike out on their own. Over the years I have witnessed what wonderful parents they are, tending to every beck and call of the little ones. This tater tot must have been hungry because it spent most of the day attached to mom! I have also heard that calves hang on to hitch a ride if they are tired of swimming for the time being. The juvenile manatees are very curious, often coming right up to you as long as you are calm and find a respectable distance to patiently observe. The mother will typically swim over and scoop them up if they are getting too close to divers in the water. The springs must be a whole new world for them out there to explore, and I am so thankful for the encounter this year."

Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

"During fieldwork at Phi Phi Islands, Thailand, spanning several weeks, I focused my efforts on documenting the maritime behavior of the Crab-eating macaque with particular focus on their water forages. The macaques have adapted very well to living around the sea and will venture into the water for various reasons including transportation, scavenging, cooling down and playing. Highly efficient swimmers, they can dive for up to half a minute and can cover short distances faster than most humans. This photo offers a rare glimpse of the swimming movement of a male macaque."

Raja Ampat, Indonesia

"We found this young whale shark during a diving trip in the south part or Raja Ampat National Park. He spent hours circling around us feeding on small schooling glassfish. I took this photo a few seconds before he vanished in the blue, with the white spots of its livery drawing the silhouette like a constellation."

Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Pier, Florida, USA

"Summer brings calm seas to South Florida where a dedicated community of shore divers heads out nearly every day to survey for cool critters. I was signaled over by my friends, Dewalt and Evelyn who had spotted this lizardfish grappling with a challenge, its eyes perhaps larger than its mouth. The comically calm doctorfish steals the spotlight, displaying a remarkable defense mechanism with splayed pectoral and dorsal spines. Typically, in these images, the lizardfish is the star of the show, but in this case, I rotated the image to emphasize the doctorfish's stoic demeanor, reminiscent of the 'everything is fine' meme."

Anilao, Batangas, Philippines

"I captured this image during a blackwater dive a few days after the Taal Volcano eruption in the Philippines in early 2020. This female paper nautilus was hitchhiking on a floating piece of wood debris in the extremely turbid water. It belongs to the octopus genus called Argonauta, one of the few octopi’s lineages that live in the open ocean. The females are unique in having evolved a shell for laying eggs. As I pressed the shutter, the surrounding particles reflected my flashlight in a manner that created the illusion of falling snow. For blackwater photography, we like to place the strobes in an angle and position where the light can shine directly on the subject, ensuring a clean dark background. However, when I initially attempted to capture this Argonaut, I was unaware that the strobes were placed in a “wrong” position. The light was shining on the space between the subject and my camera, which had illuminated the presence of all the surrounding particles. Instead of portraying chaos in the aftermath a natural disaster, these particles evoked an unusual sense of serenity, transforming the scene into a fairytale set on a snowy night.

Blackwater photographers are obsessed with clear water. We are drawn to the pure darkness that mirrors the vacuum of outer space. We tend to forget that the suspended particles which include the sand grains, organic matter and even miniscule organisms are an integral part of the ecosystem. These particles always fade into the background or are simply removed through editing, but they form the foundation of the complex marine food web. If the water were genuinely transparent, there’s no way the ocean could sustain such abundance of life. The “snowflakes” in this captured scene always remind me of these tiny yet ubiquitous existences."

Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia

"Every year thousands of Giant Spider Crabs come into Port Phillip Bay for their annual molt. They gather in large numbers and shed their old exoskeletons. Once molted they double in size while their new shell hardens over the next couple of days. During this time, they are vulnerable to predators, so they gather tightly in large numbers to reduce the risk of being eaten. This freshly molted Giant Spider Crab stands in front of a group of crabs yet to molt, allowing me the opportunity to take a portrait shot."

Mayotte Indian Ocean

"A green turtle at the surface of Mayotte lagoon."

Bimini, Bahamas

"As a pod of Bottlenose Dolphin were crater feeding I slowly sunk down a bit and this one came up to say Hello."

Roca Partida, Mexico

"Whitetip reef sharks are one of few shark species that rest in place. At Roca Partida, a small island, real estate is limited for the many whitetips that live there and they can often be seen bunking together. I wanted to get a photo of all of them facing me and with a lot of patience and a careful approach I managed to do so."

Manado, Indonesia

"I have seen many larval snails over the course of several years of blackwater diving, but on one particular dive in Manado, Indonesia this particular gastropod caught my eye. I had never seen one so colorful and dazzling before. The snail was in constant motion, but occasionally it would spread out symmetrically in full display for just a brief moment, displaying like a piece of underwater art. As I photographed it for several minutes, I was fortunate enough to able to capture one such pose with this photograph."

Anilao, Batangas, Philippines

"In the past two years I dove in Anilao on three separate occasions. We encountered this species on our first tour and were delighted to find that they were mating. My two diving buddies busied themselves with the nudibranchs, and by the time it was my turn I had no air left. I hardly hoped to get a second chance to observe this special event. But on our third tour I cought them 'in flagranti'."

Lobster Shack, Coronado Islands, Mexico

"California sea lions are born in early summer in the Coronado Islands. Play is very important in their development. By late fall they have grown to be very confident in the water and can often be seen play fighting each other. I watched these two pups swirl around together and playfully bite each other. For now, it is all for fun as they learn skills that will help them later in life."

Magdalena, Baja California, Mexico

"Each November, sardines aggregate offshore the Mexican west coast. This in turn attracts many predators. Working with a local fisherman, we search the deep water offshore near the continental shelf and we spotted a lonely sealion. The sealion was chasing the sardines and the ball was constantly changing shape as the sealion broke it up."

University of the Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands

"Most corals spawn once a year in synchrony by using several environmental cues. Due to the ongoing degradation of coral reefs, many surviving corals of the same species are now spaced too far apart on a reef for successful fertilization to occur. At the University of the Virgin Islands, coral researchers temporarily removed several grooved brain corals from reefs surrounding the U.S. Virgin Islands and brought them into a land-based coral nursery, where they're spawned in controlled conditions. These techniques allow researchers to collect sperm and eggs from several corals efficiently and fertilize them in the lab, where they can be grown and eventually outplanted back to the reef. After spawning, the corals removed from the reef are placed back to the same reef which they were collected from.

This technique of assisted fertilization is also sometimes called assisted evolution. The corals inside this table have survived several prior bleaching events, hurricanes, and disease outbreaks, such as the devastating Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease. This means that these individuals may harbor essential genetics, making them more resilient to several environmental stressors that kill corals. By spawning and crossing these survivors, it's hoped that this may lead to more robust and resilient corals better equipped for the future environmental parameters of our oceans.

Just before they're expected to spawn in the nursery, the water flow is turned off, bringing a calmness to their environment and creating the perfect opportunity to shoot the reflection of the corals in the still water surface. With the corals-filled nursery, I only had a few locations to slip my camera in. Fortunately, this vantage point gave me lots of depth to work within the nursery."

Čierna Voda, Slovakia

"Carp pairs in the Lake, Slovakia."