94 Breathtaking Photographs Celebrated At The 2026 Ocean Photographer Of The Year Awards

Location: Yunnan Province, China
Description: An Atlantic puffin swims past an underwater viewing window at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary in Cornwall. In 2024, the sanctuary became the first place in the UK to provide permanent care for rescued puffins that could not survive if returned to the wild. The underwater habitat allows visitors to observe behaviors rarely seen above the surface, helping to build a greater understanding of these vulnerable seabirds and the challenges they face in the wild.

Location: Osezaki, Japan
Description: A ribbonfish rises vertically through the dark waters of Osezaki, Japan. Its long, silver body and delicate fins are adapted for life in the open ocean. This image was captured during a winter blackwater dive. Around the ribbonfish, a swarm of salps – small, jelly-like animals that feed on tiny particles in the ocean – creates a glimpse of life moving through the deep sea.

Location: Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Description: A pygmy seahorse, no larger than a grain of rice, clings to a delicate hydroid in the reefs of Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Perfectly camouflaged, these tiny animals are rarely seen, even by experienced divers. Photographing them requires patience and careful buoyancy to protect their fragile habitat, reminding us that some of the ocean's most remarkable wildlife is also its most vulnerable.

Location: Kralendijk, Caribbean
Description: A chocolate-lined top snail releases egg packages into the water during a night dive. This gastropod is a broadcast spawner, meaning males and females release sperm and eggs into the surrounding water, where fertilization occurs by chance. Close inspection reveals the snail’s eye and the curved appendage used to release the eggs, offering a detailed view of reproduction in a small reef inhabitant.

Location: Tulamben, Indonesia
Description: A translucent shrimp glows within the folds of a green tunicate in the volcanic waters of Tulamben, Indonesia. These small marine animals create shelter for tiny creatures living in the muck diving habitats often overlooked by divers. Using careful backlighting, the photographer revealed the shrimp’s golden eyes and delicate body, transforming a hidden reef resident into a jewel-like portrait.

Location: Tulum, Mexico
Description: Deep inside Yab Yum cave, Mexico, leaves falling from the jungle above have accumulated underwater, forming a mound nearly 10 meters high. As the leaves slowly decompose, they release hydrogen sulphide, creating delicate, smoke-like veils that drift through the water. This remarkable scene reveals the hidden cycles of life and decomposition deep beneath the jungle.

Location: Long Island, The Bahamas
Description: Freediver Arnaud Jerald descends into Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas during a successful world record attempt at the Vertical Blue competition. Photographed from more than 30 meters below, the image captures the scale of one of the world's deepest marine sinkholes. Crystal-clear water, sunlight and drifting sand combined to create a rare view of this remarkable moment.

Location: Baja California, Mexico
Description: A striped marlin hunts sardines in the waters of Magdalena Bay, Mexico. Using a slow shutter speed, the photographer captured the marlin’s controlled movement against the blur of thousands of fleeing sardines. The image reveals the contrast between the predator’s precision and the frantic struggle of its prey.

Location: Costa Rica
Description: A superpod of spinner dolphins swims through deep water 20 miles off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. While spinner dolphins are often seen in small groups, they can also gather in schools of hundreds of animals. Living in large groups helps protect them from predators and supports their highly social behavior. Although they move as a coordinated pod, each dolphin has unique markings and can be identified as an individual within the group.

Location: Komodo, Indonesia
Description: A ladybug amphipod (Cyproideidae sp.), only 3mm long, rests on a blue sea squirt in the coral reefs of Komodo, Indonesia. These tiny crustaceans are easily overlooked, yet their intricate forms reveal the hidden diversity of reef life. Using a super-macro lens, the photographer isolated the amphipod against the soft coral background, revealing details invisible to the naked eye, including its delicate translucent legs.

Location: Boa Vista, Cape Verde
Description: Volunteers, surfers, lifeguards and conservation groups work together to refloat stranded short-finned pilot whales. While many animals initially returned to the sea, the pod stranded again further along the coast, highlighting the complexity of mass strandings. The image captures compassion in action, but it also reflects how wildlife rescue continues to evolve. In the months that followed, international experts trained the local community in safer, science-based stranding response techniques, strengthening future rescue efforts.

Location: Isle of White, UK
Description: A volunteer from Project Seagrass surveys a healthy seagrass meadow in the Solent, off the Isle of Wight. Seagrass supports marine life, stores carbon and helps protect coastlines, yet the UK has lost around 92 per cent of these underwater meadows. Through the Solent Seascape Project, volunteers and scientists are restoring this vital habitat, showing how community action can help bring damaged marine ecosystems back to life.

Location: Xiapu, China
Description: Four fishermen stand in the shallow waters of Xiapu’s intertidal zone, using traditional push nets that spread across the surface like colorful sails. Water movement has carved patterns into the tidal flats, creating a transition from warm golden tones to cool teal waters. The fishermen and their nets create a striking contrast against the textured landscape, reflecting the relationship between coastal communities and the changing rhythms of the sea.

Location: Tulamben, Bali
Description: A tiny urchin shrimp (Stegopontonia commensalis) hides among the venomous spines of a sea urchin. The shrimp has adapted to align itself vertically, mimicking the shape and orientation of the sea urchin's spines. This remarkable camouflage allows the shrimp to live safely within its host, gaining protection while leaving the urchin unharmed. Look closely and you may spot the shrimp's translucent eye, almost invisible against the striped body.

Location: Quintana Roo, Mexico
Description: A cave diver follows a yellow guideline through the winding passages of a Mexican cenote. Formed over thousands of years as limestone dissolved and caves flooded, these submerged systems preserve spectacular stalactites and stalagmites. In the darkness, careful buoyancy is essential to avoid disturbing fine silt, allowing the cave's remarkable clarity and geological history to remain undisturbed.

Location: Nazaré, Portugal
Description: Eighteen-year-old surfer Luke Smith rides a powerful wave at the end of the surf season. The swirling foam and the crashing white water behind the surfer resemble a snow avalanche. The size of the wave highlights the ocean’s raw power and the bravery of the surfer. Luke was towed into these large waves by his brother, who also acted as his safety partner, which is essential in these conditions.

Location: Tasmania, Australia
Description: A young giant kelp rises among mature fronds in one of Tasmania’s last remaining kelp forests. Once widespread along the coast, more than 95 per cent of these underwater forests have disappeared due to warming seas and changing ocean conditions. These underwater forests are biodiversity hotspots, providing food, shelter and nursery grounds for countless marine species. Today, each young kelp represents a glimmer of hope. Through restoration projects, kelp cultivation, planting programs and ongoing research, scientists and conservationists are working to rebuild what has been lost.

Location: The Gulf of California, Mexico
Description: A silky shark circles helplessly after taking bait from an illegal longline, its fate sealed by a steel hook and heavy line designed to prevent escape. Photographed less than 48 hours after Baja California's seasonal shark fishing ban ended, the image reveals a hidden reality unfolding far from shore. A small group of pilot fish remains beside the shark, highlighting how the loss of one animal can ripple through an entire ecosystem.

Location: South China Sea
Description: A sicklefin devil ray (Mobula tarapacana) struggles in a drift net during a night fishing operation. Although often caught unintentionally, these rays can face devastating consequences when fishermen remove them while protecting their nets. With slow reproduction and small litters, this species is highly vulnerable to fishing pressure and is now classified as Endangered by the IUCN. Taken during weeks spent aboard a fishing vessel, this image documents the hidden reality of offshore fishing, where survival in the net does not always mean escape.

Location: Magdalena Bay, Mexico
Description: A shark’s severed head lies among seagrass in Baja California, Mexico, after the animal’s body was removed. Hundreds of similar remains were found along one beach, revealing the scale of shark exploitation in this region. The surrounding seagrass meadow is a reminder that even thriving marine habitats can exist alongside human pressures that threaten ocean wildlife.