Eclipse: Fifth Place, Wide Angle. From August to November, golden rays migrate in large numbers in Costa Rica's Pacific waters. No one knows the exact reason, but it might be for protection from predators or as a social or mating behavior. I was looking for this picture for years, and after several weeks of searching and working with a biologist who specialized in rays, I spotted a good place using my drone. I did several dives in this area and waited patiently. Then, when they came on top of me, I was shocked and forgot that I had a camera in my hands. Location: Big Scare, Bat Island, Costa Rica. #

Love From a Father: Third Place, Marine Life Behavior. When it comes to clownfish, we can safely say that Daddy does everything he can to make sure the next generation is safe. He takes care of the eggs by making them breathe with his fins; he removes dust, debris, and dead eggs from the nest. This was a really lucky shot as I was trying a new wet lens (+20 diopter). It is pretty hard to use because its depth of field is so shallow that I had to focus manually. What a surprise it was to get this lovely behavior and the clownfish eye in perfect focus! Location: Padangbai, Bali. #

Million Hope Shipwreck: Honorable Mention, Mirrorless Wide Angle. The Million Hope is the largest shipwreck in the Red Sea. It rests in Egyptian waters in the Straits of Tiran. It is also the largest wreck I have ever visited. This ship is so huge that I did not have enough time—or enough air, since this is a shallow wreck lying against the reef—to explore everything. I wanted to photograph the bow with a diver next to it. My idea was to show the sheer scale of the ship. Location: Red Sea, Egypt. #

Polycera quadrilineata Posing: 2nd Place, Nudibranch. This image was taken in the early spring 2012 at 10 meters depth in the algal belt surrounding the old ferry dock of Bremsnes in Norway. Springtime is nudibranch time along the coasts of Scandinavia. The one-year-old adults spawn and large amounts of fully grown adults (3-4 cm) can be seen on the leaves of Oar Weed (Laminaria digitata), together with their curtain-like eggmasses. Some individuals raise their bodies in search for something, maybe another nudibranch for mating? This behavior was used to get an image with a clean composition. Location: Bremsnes, Norway. #

Devil Ray Ballet: First Place, Marine Life Behavior, and Best of Show Winner. Spinetail devil rays, (Mobula japanica) engaged in rarely observed or photographed courtship behavior, with two males pursuing one female. Location: Honda Bay, Palawan, the Philippines. #

Sunsplit: Second Place, Reefscapes. Sunset split shots are fantastic to capture in the shallow reefs of Egypt. There are many embankments to look for a nice spot for the perfect lighting from the setting sun. Location: Red Sea, Egypt. #

Porcelain Bloom: Second Place, Supermacro. Certainly, the goal of underwater photographers is to capture images of the marine world with as little disturbance as possible. Looking for subjects on a small Gorgonian, I spied a small porcelain crab hanging underneath the tip of an overhanging branch. I could have encouraged this little one to sit atop, but then crab survival kicks in and they can become difficult to photograph. With forethought, post-production allowed easy rotation, and the little crab was set on top without interference and I was able to get very close to an undisturbed crab. Location: Anilao, Philippines. #

Light Beam: Honorable Mention, Underwater Art. On an expedition through the Yucatan Peninsula, the professional free diver Carlos Coste and I were brought to a very beautiful and remote cenote by our friend and local guide, Pedro Castillo. As we got our gear on, a light beam appeared in the water from above. Needless to say, we used every second of light to capture photos of this wonderful phenomenon to show its mystical beauty. Location: Mérida, Mexico. #

No No!: Third Place, Mirrorless Wide Angle. While diving in Galapagos looking for Mola mola, we encountered some playful sea lions. This particular one shook his head from side to side, like he was saying no to a photograph. But he remained in the same spot for minutes prior to moving away for a bit and then returning. Location: Galapagos Islands. #

Sheep on the Shot: Honorable Mention, Nudibranch. My dive master showed me this cute sheep-leaf nudibranch during a dive in Lembeh, Indonesia. The rouge on its face attracted me, and I decided to take a face shot with a spotlight effect. #

Smile of a Friend: Second Place, Novice DSLR. In my photo dreams, I always had the idea of capturing a wild crocodile. But even when I have seen many in the wild, I have never been able to get in the water with one. That morning we saw this crocodile called El Niño. I was told he was nice enough to let you get close to him. He was watching us for quite some time and, when we decided to go in the water, I was nervous but excited. I approached him within about 10 feet when he started to move toward me. I got more nervous than before, but he moved gently so I knew he wasn’t mad. He came toward me but dove underneath, so I turned around to follow him closely. When he turned around to face me, I had the opportunity to take this picture with a big smile. Location: Jucaro, Cuba. #

New Life: Fifth Place, Marine Life Behavior. I usually dive in Capo Noli, Italy. One morning in July, I met a beautiful specimen of an octopus in a tube that was caring for its eggs. #

Unnoticed: Honorable Mention, Macro. It was the first dive of a 12-day liveaboard through Flores and Alor, Indonesia. I took a few images at the end of the dive, not knowing what the animal was. Back on board, even the dive guides weren't sure, and they know their stuff. It wasn't in any of the fish ID books. So I asked if I could dive the same site again with a different lens, and they were kind enough to say yes. It allowed me the time to experiment. When I got home, I found out what kind of fish it was (juvenile rigid shrimpfish), and I feel very privileged to have had the encounter. Location: Flores, Indonesia. #

Who's the Boss?: Fourth Place, Compact Wide Angle. Marine iguanas can only be found on the Galapagos Islands and are the only iguana species worldwide that feeds in the ocean. I tried to understand how these very rare and special animals behave and react to the presence of divers in the water by observing them over the course of three dives, until I figured out how to approach them while they were feeding without disturbing them to get some close focus wide angle shots. The surge conditions in the shallow area these animals feed in made it quite challenging to handle the camera and position the strobes, but luckily I found this particular iguana, who was not bothered at all and allowed me to get a series of shots. Location: Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. #

Gentle Giants: First Place, Wide Angle. This unique encounter happened in September 2018 in Reunion Island (Western Indian Ocean), where the humpback whales come to breed and give birth. The mother was resting 15 meters down, while her calf was enjoying his new human friends. Trust: This is what came to my mind, when this close-to-30-ton animal, still hunted today by mankind, allowed me to free dive behind her and take that shot. From down there, everything seemed unreal: that huge tail centimeters away from me, the calf, my friend free diving symmetrically. I knew I would not get a shot like this one again. Location: Saint-Gilles, Reunion Island. #

Nemo: Honorable Mention, Portrait Category. The relationship between the ocellaris clownfish that dwell among the tentacles of Ritteri sea anemones is a good example of mutualism. The territorial fish protects the anemone from anemone-eating fish, and in turn the stinging tentacles of the anemone protect the clownfish from its predators. Location: Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan. #

Schools of Schools: Second Place, Mirrorless Behavior. On the first day of the dive trip, we decided to dive the wreck of the Caribsea, off Morehead City, North Carolina. During the descent, the water appeared darker than usual; however, the deeper we descended, to our amazement we encountered a massive bait ball just above the shipwreck. Upon further inspection, there were a multitude of sand tiger sharks entering and exiting the bait ball in a calm, peaceful manner, seemingly more curious than hungry. As I slowly and cautiously watched, I saw this large female sand tiger shark with her own bait ball entourage just approaching the massive ball. I was mesmerized by the entire scene, but my brain quickly engaged enough to set up for the shot of her about to enter. She seemed completely disinterested in me and continued her journey. As I waited for just the right time, I was rewarded with this image. Location: Above the shipwreck Caribsea, off Morehead City, North Carolina. #

Bubble Life: Second Place, Mirrorless Macro. When I saw this green nudibranch in a bit of Boergesenia forbesii (Siphonocladales) green algae, I felt that it looked like the Hulk, but cuter. It ate the chlorophyll and stayed inside the Boergesenia forbesii to make its own "Bubble Life." Location: Green Island, Taiwan. #

Family Affair: Fifth Place, Mirrorless Behavior. A pod of false killer whales had been busy visiting dive boats at Roca Partida for a day. Twice they surrounded us on the M/V Valentina, and we could hear their distant squeaks and whistles underwater as we dove around the island. I was leading my first international dive trip on a second visit to the Revillagigedo Archipelago and loving our luck! The next morning at the end of our first dive, their commotion grew louder and louder until suddenly there they were, the whole pod making a beeline to our dive teams. We all froze in place, stunned and suddenly ignoring the oceanic manta behind us. One subgroup turned directly in front of me and let me capture their family portrait. The little ones shyly looked around, but their leader watched me closely as they passed. Location: Roca Partida, Revillagigedo Archipelago, Mexico. #

Spider Crab Attack: Honorable Mention, Cold Water. Swimming out over the sand at my favorite local dive site, I was given quite a fright as I passed close by a spider crab and it leapt out at me! I retreated but, intrigued and seeing the potential to capture both this behavior and the motion of the ocean, I dialed in a slow shutter speed, rear-flash sync and approached the same individual. He repeated the behavior as I got close, standing up on his hind legs, leaping up into the water column, and slashing with his large claws! Spider crabs aggregated in large numbers in the bay over the summer, and I believe this feisty individual was displaying a combination of territorial and defensive behavior. Image captured, I left him in peace, ready to surprise the next passing diver! Location: Babbacombe Bay, Devon, UK. #

Timing: Honorable Mention, Marine Life Behavior. Photographing spawning fish has been a passion of mine for a decade now, and this single image took me nearly seven years to capture. In Palau, camouflage groupers only spawn once or twice a year for only one or two days. As you can imagine, it can take a while to figure the exact timing out. Each passing year, I slowly worked away at the formula, ticking off each tidal prediction as it came and went. I never, however, expected this species to spawn in the middle of the night, which is one of the reasons it took me so long and was quite possibly the last time I was willing to sit all night watching groupers do nothing again. That night I found a female grouper that I knew was moments away from spawning, so I positioned myself a little distance back from her and watched as the male grouper wisely guarded her against a rock with the ever-increasing numbers of sharks patrolling the perimeter of the channel. I knew the showdown was finally approaching. Suddenly the male grouper nudged his partner up and out of the hole and like a deflating balloon they spiraled toward the surface, releasing their gametes as I fired away. It was all over in a split second; the question was, Did I get anything? Location: The Republic of Palau. #

Best Friends Forever: Honorable Mention, Cold Water. While looking for marine iguanas at Fernandina Island in the Galapagos, we came across these inquisitive Galapagos penguins. Given that they are hunted by many predators above and below the water, it was surprising how close they came to us. These penguins are the only ones living north of the equator, thanks to the ice-cold Humboldt Current that hits the west side of Galapagos, and are therefore endemic to these Islands. Being the most endangered species of penguin, seeing two of only 2,000 breeding animals left in the world is truly special. They are one of the smallest penguins and zip fast in the water like all penguins. So catching a photo of them in murky, green water with a serious swell going on during an overcast day was not an easy task. Location: Galapagos, Ecuador. #

Roar: Honorable Mention, Portrait Category. This kind of species, chaenopsid blenny, is found in rocky reefs around Japan, in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. It features a mohawk-like "haircut," which is usually in red, yellow, or black. This photo of a blenny cleaning up its lair was taken in Kanagawaken, Japan. #

Foggy Morning on the Adams River: Fifth Place, Cold Water. A lone sockeye salmon swims by as wisps of fog cling to the surface in the early dawn hours on the Adams River. I had scoped this location out during the last dominant sockeye run in 2014. Four years on, during the next big run this past October, I spent a couple hours each day at dawn lying in the dark water. I exposed this image using a relatively slow shutter speed to soften the flowing water's surface, while employing strobes to get a sharply lit image of the salmon as it swam by. Pacific salmon all return to the rivers they came from, only once in their lives, to spawn. At the end of this epic migration upriver, they pass their genes on to the next generation and then die. It is such an honor to witness and photograph this spectacle of nature. Location: Adams River, British Columbia, Canada. #

Curiosity: Honorable Mention, Portrait Category. My free dive partner and I were surrounded by green sea turtles feeding on algae that washed out from the rocky shoreline on Oahu's North Shore. I turned to see this turtle swimming directly at me, which was a truly remarkable behavior that I have never experienced before. As I set up to capture the unique encounter, the curious turtle saw her reflection and continued to slowly approach until nearly bumping my dome! Location: Haleiwa, Hawaii. #